Just because they've got away with it for years doesn't mean it's not abuse. Plus, the asymmetric metallic-belted tyres they used at Silverstone haven't been around for years. As mentioned before, at Spa 2011 Red Bull pushed beyond the boundaries with their front camber and almost paid a big price for it, so the teams have flirted with failure for some time...
Racing, F1 especially, is about pushing the limits of everything available. You can't place blame on the teams. They're just doing what they have always done, and will always do.
Thanks for that information. I haven't been watching motorsport for almost my entire life, so I have no idea what's going on. I just thought they were there to have fun.
Seriously though, what the teams were doing should be considered abuse. If you run outside the recommended envelope and you use tyres on the 'wrong' side of the car you should consider that abuse. The teams obviously were doing it for a reason. They took a calculated risk that they could run outside the specifications from the manufacturer and, for some cars, they paid a penalty. What's wrong with the situation, though, is for the teams to try and point the finger at Pirelli and say the tyres are unsafe. I don't expect the teams to come out and say "Yeah, we were running outside what Pirelli told us was safe, plus we were running the tyres the wrong way round. We took a risk and it didn't pay off. It's our fault. However, they could at least have been a little less vocal with their anti-Pirelli statements. Let's see how many failures there are this weekend...
Teams have been swapping tyres for 60 years. Sometimes front to back, and sometimes side to side. Pirelli should have made tyres that can cope with what is pretty normal use. If the tyres can't cope at the optimum camber angles then maybe they should improve the tyres. If the give more grip and lower than recommended pressures perhaps they should modify the tyres so they're safer at these optimum pressures.
The teams have pushed the limits - nothing wrong with that. This is F1, not a public airline. The drivers need to man up and accept hat they are doing something dangerous. Wimps.
You seem to have no idea about the reason they find this dangerous, its because the compounds had a steel belt and when it exploded the steel parts would fly all over the joint which at the speed they were at could very easily pierce the helmets.
Now that it's Kevlar there isn't really an issue anymore.
I am completely aware of the steel internals. If its too dangerous for them they can go and do something else. I still think F1 drivers a wimps. Except Webber and Kimi.
Coulthard changed his tune, I remember at the '05 Indianapolis GP he said he'd race even with the Michelin issue anyway and said danger is PART of F1 but these days when commentating he sounds like my dad.