SAKHIR, Bahrain – Banning tyre blankets in Formula One from 2024 would be dangerous and a pointless exercise, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said on Saturday.

The warmers provide immediate grip and performance but getting rid of them appeals for reasons of cost and sustainability.

The governing FIA said last week that new wet-weather tyres that did not need blankets would be introduced from Imola in May.

Pirelli’s Formula 1 head Mario Isola told motorsport.com during testing in Bahrain that plans to ban blankets entirely in 2024 could be put to a vote after tests following the British Grand Prix in July.

Mercedes driver Hamilton told reporters that the sport could be making a wrong move.

“It’s dangerous,” said the Briton. “I’ve tested the no-blankets and there’s going to be an incident at some stage. So on a safety factor, I think it’s the wrong decision.

“Also you have to drive multiple laps to get the tyres to work and the whole argument is that taking away the blankets is for going more sustainable, more green. In actual fact, we’re just using more fuel to get temperature into tyres.”

Hamilton said a car with unheated tyres would be very twitchy, skating around on the surface.

“If there is someone else who is on tyres that are working, you could easily collide with them,” added Hamilton.

“It’s a pointless exercise.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz said he had tested the full wet tyres without blankets and they were “actually not too bad”.

“If anything, they were faster than the normal wets,” he added.

Meanwhile, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, 33, has no immediate plans to go racing but, even from the sidelines of F1, he will still be providing one of the sub-plots of the season that starts on Sunday.

The eight-time grand prix winner is back at Red Bull as their third driver for 2023, supporting double world champion Max Verstappen and Mexican Sergio Perez in the simulator.

The question is whether one of the sport’s most popular characters, who left McLaren at the end of 2022 after two tough seasons alongside Lando Norris, can make a comeback in 2024.

“I’m not necessarily looking to do things or other races this year,” Ricciardo said of his first year off the F1 grid since 2011.

“It’s going to be more if I’ve got free time, go and ride some dirt bikes with friends and ride across parts of America.

“Something like that. Just do adventure things, a little bit more fun, a bit more light-hearted.”

He is not planning on setting foot in the F1 paddock until his home race weekend in Melbourne at the end of March and early April, and was not yet “foaming at the mouth” to get behind the wheel.

His long-time coach Michael Italiano has found a new job, working with Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri.

Ricciardo’s availability will, however, still add to the pressure on Perez once the racing starts in Bahrain. The Mexican knows the team have a plug-in alternative if he falls out of favour or fails to perform to their expectations. REUTERS