We can officially blame Bernie Ecclestone for the fragile Pirelli tires for the last two seasons in F1. Ecclestone said in an interview with the official F1 website that he told Pirelli to create a tire that would not last for half a race, and it did just that. He said drivers dealing with tires today is similar to them dealing with fragile brakes or transmissions in the past. 

"I asked Pirelli to make tires that would not complete 50 percent of a race - and that's what they did.

"In the times when Niki [Lauda] was racing his biggest concern was looking after the gearbox and the brakes - not the tires.

"Then we got away from that and the drivers didn't have to think about anything. Now they have to use their brains and start thinking about how to win races," said Ecclestone.

He admits that Pirelli could create a tire that lasted for an entire race if it wanted to. 

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team responded to Ecclestone saying that while pit stops may be exciting, there is a limit.

"As an ex-driver I can say three pit stops maximum works. That's it. If you have four stops - and some tires only lasting four laps - that's the wrong direction," said Lauda. 

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, including team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, has been most vocal against this season's tires. Last season, teams complained that the tires were too temperamental to their temperature, and they only worked in an extremely limited range. This season, the major complaint is that the tires degrade too quickly, sometimes in as little as four laps. Teams have been forced to retire from races for running out of tires. 

Source: Autosport