Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda has slammed the current tyre situation in F1, claiming that it is confusing fans.
Tyres have become more and more of a contentious topic in the sport, with many drivers complaining that they either can't find the 'hot spot' or that they are degrading too quickly.
Different teams' ability to work the tyres has impacted many a race, including last Sunday's Australian GP where Kimi Raikkonen's two-stop strategy gave him the decisive edge over those who had to stop three times.
Lauda believes that many fans do not understand how the tyres work and as a result are left scratching their heads when they appear to have a variable performance.
"The situation with the tyres is absolutely stupid," Lauda is quoted as telling Bild. "Artificially creating more and more pitstops is wrong.
"Pirelli can't really help it as they are only doing what the FIA ordered them to do, but 90 percent of the time no one understands what is happening in the races now.
"My advantage is that I can ask our Mercedes engineers. The fans cannot. But even our people are confused," he added.
"When the tyres are so soft, it's bad for Formula One. The fans don't understand if there are more than two pitstops. For F1 it's a fundamentally wrong path."
