Red Bull F1 team owner Dietrich Mateschitz yesterday described the new Formula One tyres as a catastrophe.

In an interview with the Austrian news agency APA, the billionaire, whose Red Bull team last year won both the drivers' and the constructors' championship, was not impressed with the tyres, which this season are provided by Pirelli.

"You should not speak of a tyre revolution, it is more like a catastrophe," Mateschitz said.

The tyres disintegrate much faster than the Bridgestone tyres from last year, prompting Mateschitz to say: "It is true that much more will be left to chance."