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Sebastian Vettel insists his Pirelli complaints were only ever directed at safety issues

World Champion denies he has been most vocal tyre critic

The finger is back
Image: Sebastian Vettel: Insists tyre safety has been his central concern

Sebastian Vettel has denied his criticisms of Pirelli's tyres have ever been directed at their fast-degrading nature, instead claiming he has only ever voiced concerns over their safety.

A lack of consensus among the teams has meant that Pirelli have been forced to row back from making any direct changes to their compounds for the remainder of the season, with only plans now afoot to revise the rear construction to cure the delamination problems. Sunday's Canadian GP was noticeable for the fact that drivers were being encouraged to push flat out for the majority of the race and Red Bull's technical boss Adrian Newey told Sky Sports F1 after Vettel's runaway victory that it had been a welcome return to "pure racing". "I think it's good and produces good races when the drivers can push and not have to drive at 80%," Newey said. "You saw in Monaco when the drivers got out [of their cars] they had barely broken sweat, it was a very much a Sunday afternoon cruise. "It doesn't seem very pure but this was pure racing today."

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