Mercedes' F1 CEO Nick Fry says he welcomes Michael Schumacher's opinion on Pirelli as it opened a "good healthy" debate.
In the wake of the Bahrain GP, during which many drivers suffered heavy wear with their Pirelli tyres, Schumacher slammed the Italian manufacturer's rubber.
The German stated that because of the tyres the drivers drive "like on raw eggs" and have to avoid stressing the tyres "at all otherwise you overdo it and you go nowhere."
Schumacher's comments made headlines with Formula One personnel and fans alike arguing whether Pirelli's direction with regards to their tyres as hindered or helped the F1 show.
And, as the Mercedes team is in itself divided on the matter given that Nico Rosberg gave Pirelli his stamp of approval, Fry has come out in support of Schumacher's strong opinion.
"I think the real question is one of philosophy as opposed to whether the tyres are good, bad or indifferent," Autosport quoted Fry as having said.
"Pirelli are more than capable of making tyres to any specification and they have been guided to make the tyres we have at the moment.
"I think I have seen some debate in the media about whether that is the right route for F1 and whether the tyres should be durable enough for the drivers to drive flat out for the whole race.
"That is clearly the perspective that Michael has or whether they are a bit more sensitive which obviously our other driver Nico likes.
"From a team point of view we have no issue that one driver has a particular point of view and the other driver has another point of view and I think that is a good healthy debate and I think it is a question for Formula 1 whether we need the tyres we have or whether, as in history, you have tyres that you can drive flat out on all the time.
"I think that is a question for the teams and the organisers to answer and we support Michael on having a strong point of view on this. It may not be a point of view that other driver share but it is a perfectly valid and intelligent point of view."
