Formula 1 is set to introduce a number of radical changes to the tyres in 2021 as part of proposals unveiled by the FIA on Friday.The governing body has started the process of accepting applications from companies who want to be considered to become the sport's tyre supplier from 2020, with current producer Pirelli expected to be one of the interested parties.In the eight seasons the Italian brand has been involved in F1, the topic of tyres has often been high on the agenda with some unhappy at the level of degradation of the compounds until 2016 but more recently suggesting they have gone too far the other way and are now too durable.Problems with failures have also cast the company in a bad light over the years, yet still their desire to remain part of the sport has remained strong.In fact, the first proposal put forward was one Pirelli first suggested in 2014 which is to increase the rim size from the current 13 inches to 18, bringing F1 in line with most modern road cars.This would result in tyres having a much lower profile than currently and require substantial changes to the suspension as how a car would ride kerbs would be very different.The width of the front tyres will also change from the current 305mm to 270mm with the rears remaining at the current 405mm diameter.Perhaps the most radical proposal, however, is the banning of tyre blankets, which are currently used to warm up the rubber in the pits before being fitted to the cars.Their purpose is to put the tyres into a safe temperature window so that when the driver leaves the garage the level of grip is high enough to circulate at a rapid speed.However, such comforts are not allowed in junior series and getting the right amount of heat in the compounds is considered a skill for each driver to master, now the FIA wants to bring that challenge back."Tyres should provide safe performance when leaving the pits cold," the document outlining the proposals read."The glass transition temperature must be chosen so that the tyres are never in a ‘glassy state’ when either the ambient or the track temperature is above 10 degrees centigrade."To overcome the issue of having inappropriate tyres during winter testing, a special 'low-temperature' compound is also mentioned with only a select number of race compounds to be made available during the tests.The final point is any prospective supplier must be able to produce tyres that improve the racing through offering different strategy options rather than the current one-stop races that often result in less action.At the teams' press conference on Friday, technical directors from all four outfits present admitted it was the first time they have heard these proposals.Their reaction was broadly positive, even if a few questions will now be raised.

"If those specifications for the tyre allow us to get around some of the limitations that we face in operating the tyres at the minute, pressures, cambers, all those things, and make that task less onerous on the teams and produce more consistent performance throughout the life of the tyres, then I think that’s all to the good," says Renault's Bob Bell.

"I’m sure that a set of tyre requirements from the supplier can be agreed upon that will deliver tyres that will be capable of being operated safely, without blankets.

"Plenty of other racing series do it so I don’t see any reason why we can’t in Formula 1," he continued.