Pirelli not expecting 'five-stop races' | 2013 F1 season

Pirelli say the high level of tyre degradation seen in testing so far won't be replicated in the races.

'We're only just past the halfway point of mid-season testing, so it's still very early days,' said motorsport director Paul Hembery.

'But the conditions we're seeing in Barcelona are again far from typical of the rest of the season, with much cooler ambient and track temperatures than we would normally race in.

'Coupled with the fact that the teams are still making big set-up adjustments to their new cars, as they all try to optimise their car-tyre packages, we are seeing levels of degradation that are outside of the usual parameters.

'Once we get to Melbourne we are confident that the tyres will be in their intended working range, with two to three pit stops.'

Mark Webber said the sport should not got too far in increasing the number of pit stops to produce exciting races.

'We know when you have multiple stops, a lot of degradation in the races, there's more chances for things to go wrong,' he said. 'You can have a little bit more, let's say, interesting results.'

'If that's what the people like then maybe we can have more stops and more action. If you have a one stop race, the Red Bulls, McLarens, everyone lines up, it's a one-stop race then the result might be a little bit more fixed.

'But if you have a five-stop Grand Prix things move around a little bit. In general I still think the quick guys will be strong at the end of the race. But I hope we don't have five-stop races because it's not really Formula One.

'We need to keep the stops sensible in terms of duration. I think everybody knows the balancing act needs to be not one stop, not five, somewhere in the middle.'

Webber added he thought it was unlikely the opening races of this season would produce as many different winners as was seen last year: 'I don't think we can have more winners than last year, for the first seven races. That's was a record I think which will stay for a while.'

2013 F1 season

• McLaren confirm Lowe to leave at end of year
• Pirelli not expecting 'five-stop races'
• Mexico City could hold 2014 Mexican GP ' Ecclestone
• Webber: DRS rules change won't reduce overtaking
• Jamey Price's Barcelona F1 testing gallery

Browse all 2013 F1 season articles