Bob Fernley admits F1's tyre changes are 'not healthy' for Force India's performance

Force India's Bob Fernley admits the tyre changes currently being implemented for safety reasons are "not healthy" for the team's performance.

Step two of the changes sees Pirelli introduce another new tyre in Budapest which combines the current softer compounds with the Kevlar construction used last season Force India have the chance to test them at their home track in next week's Young Driver Test but Fernley hinted that there could be more results like Germany's to come. He also said the team will have to divert resources back from their 2014 programme to undertake re-design work on their current VJM06. The new tyres will have a different profile and so affect airflow around the car. Asked whether he was confident the German GP was a one-off, Fernley replied: "No, I don't think we are confident. There's quite a significant change, so obviously what we've got to look at is run it at Silverstone. The positive thing about it is that we can do a complete back-to-back comparison from only a week ago. "The weather was quite good on the race day, so we've got good data to do the comparisons with. "But the tyre is so significantly different, and the car is designed specifically around that '13 spec. tyre, that we will have to re-engage design work on something that we'd actually thought we'd stopped, because obviously we want to move on to the '14 car. "So it's not good. It's not healthy for Force India." Along with Ferrari and Lotus, Force India vetoed the German GP rear tyre - which was originally designed to prevent the delaminations seen earlier in the season - from being used at Silverstone as they feared they would lose out to rivals. It didn't seem to hinder Lotus's performance at the weekend, but Fernley added: "I think it's hurting other teams as well. I'm sure Ferrari are in that situation; Lotus seemed to go well today but it's quite significant again for them. "There will be some winners and some losers. For sure, we're a loser. The question is, how much do we lose?" Force India remain fifth in the Constructors' Championship, although McLaren closed the gap after both Jenson Button and Sergio Perez earned points finishes.