Wolff denies Pirelli helped Mercedes

May 13 (GMM) Toto Wolff has scoffed at suggestions Pirelli favoured the German team with a tweak to the 2018 tyre design.

In Barcelona, despite Ferrari having the fastest car in recent races, Mercedes burst back to the front row of the grid for the Spanish grand prix.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel thinks it could be because of a tweak to the thickness of the tyre compounds for Barcelona.

“I think the tyre change helped them a bit,” he said.

“It’s hard to say how much, but somehow it has been positive for them.”

But some have gone even a step further, alleging that Mercedes successfully lobbied Ferrari to alter the tyre design for performance reasons.

“That’s just nonsense,” team boss Wolff blasted.

“All the teams had heavy blistering during the winter tests — Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, us. So Pirelli changed the thickness of the tread.

“I think they did a good job because we did not see any blistering on the tyres today,” he added.

“I don’t know who would think we influence Pirelli or the FIA. That’s not how it works in formula one,” said Wolff.

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