Pirelli chief, Paul Hembery, in F1 tyre warning

The new Pirelli tyres (Getty Images)

Formula One must allow in-season testing to avoid the risk next year of tyres lasting only a handful of laps and races being cut short, according to Pirelli's motor sport director, Paul Hembery.

Under fire for the quick-wearing compounds that led to a blizzard of pitstops in Spain on Sunday, Hembery warned that the current testing ban made it harder for the Italian company to meet significant technical challenges coming up in 2014.

He raised the scenario of a race "where you literally can only do five or six laps on every single option that we bring because we've totally under-estimated the impact [of the new regulations]."