Criticism from certain teams plus growing complaints from some sections of the media and fans have led Pirelli to announce that they will change the tyres from the Canadian Grand Prix onwards. The new range is set to combine elements from the 2012 and 2013 tyres with the aim of having both durability and performance but what will the real consequences of the change be?

Red Bull owner, Dietrich Mateschitz is the latest to wade into the Pirelli discussion after watching Sebastian Vettel struggle to a fourth place finish in Spain. According to Autosport, the Red Bull boss was locked in a 45 minute private discussion with Bernie Ecclestone and then followed this up with scathing comments about Pirelli’s tyres.

Go back to 2011 and everyone seemed to be in love with Pirelli. It was a season that featured entertaining race after entertaining race, for the first half of the year at least, even if the championship itself failed to live up to their heights. Now, four races into their third season since returning to Formula One, the relationship seems to have cooled, with a growing group criticising the tyre supplier. So what has changed?

Pirelli say they are as ready as possible for the Circuit of the America’s inaugural grand prix in Austin. With two of Pirelli’s engineers having inspected the circuit over the summer, looking at the track surface and layout in detail with sophisticated laser measuring equipment they are confident with their tyre allocation. And now Formula One’s tyre provider has released their simulation of a lap of the sport’s newest stop on the calendar ahead of next month’s race.

Despite rumours circulated by certain members of the German press that Red Bull were calling for mandatory three stops such was the degree of tyre degradation reportedly observed during qualifying, Jenson Button dominated the Belgian Grand Prix from start to finish via just a solitary visit to the pit lane. Two tyre changes were the norm, however, although ironically, it was Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who overcame a poor start by also making the single pit stop…

Having gone quickest during free practice and qualifying, Lewis Hamilton completed the job with a dominant victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Lotus tried to put the McLaren driver under pressure, first in the form of Romain Grosjean before Kimi Raikkonen had his chance in the closing stages as the strategy unfolded. In truth, though, Hamilton seldom looked troubled.