Pirelli hope to stay in Formula One

Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli have been the official tyre manufacturer for Formula One since 2011.

From the start of their development which really got going in 2010, Pirelli have been given a brief to help make Formula One more exciting, with more of an emphasis on tyre strategy.

In 2011 this led for an exciting race season despite a dominant Red Bull team running away with the championship.

In 2012 however the Pirelli tyres have helped significantly towards a record breaking season which has witnessed seven different winners during the first seven races of the season from five different teams.

This has led to mixed reviews, some claiming that Formula One has never been so exciting, whilst seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher has heavily criticised the tyres available in the current era of F1.

It's got to the point now where teams are always chasing the 'sweet spot' of the Pirelli tyre, which appears to be ever evolving throughout a race, let alone a race weekend.

'We were asked to provide fun and entertainment with our F1 tyres Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery told Autosport Magazine, 'although it was not our intention to become the discussion point for the weekend, We still want the drivers to be the stars of the show.

Discussing Pirelli's possible future in F1 he continued: 'Our current contract runs until the end of 2013, but we always intended to be in F1 for the medium-to-long term, The deadline for the 2014 decision is next June.

'If the sport wants us to stay and we can convince the board to continue, in light of economic conditions, then our intention is to go forward.'

Obviously the economic downturn is severe in Europe, but Hembery believes that with Pirelli being a global brand that a decision would not be based solely on circumstances in Europe.