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Concerns about quality of Pirelli tyres are widespread

Published on 27 Aug 2015 12:10
2
By: Rob Veenstra

Four days on, the high-speed blowouts suffered by Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel are still causing high consternation in the F1 world. None of his colleagues echoed Vettel's Spa-Francorchamps rant with the same ferocity, but it is clear that - as the sport now heads to the ultra-fast Monza layout - concerns about the quality of Pirelli's tyres are widespread.

Pirelli, however, said Rosberg's failure on Friday was caused by a cut to the tyre. And the German newspaper Bild claims that Pirelli has identified an unusually high number of other cuts - 60 - on the tyres that were used throughout the field in Belgium last weekend. "In the ten races before Spa, the total was just 85 (cuts)," Bild said.

As for Vettel's failure, Pirelli reportedly continues to believe that the problem was excessive tyre wear, as Ferrari went it alone with its one-stop strategy. But Alex Wurz, president of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), has indicated that explanation is not good enough. "As drivers, we strongly believe the end of a tyre's performance window can and should not be a tyre delamination in the form of an explosion," he told the BBC.

In the short term, it is believed the FIA is set to support Pirelli in introducing some immediate changes, including mandating a maximum tyre life per set. "We are working closely with Pirelli and Ferrari to draw lessons from what happened and to make appropriate changes," an FIA spokesperson is quoted by France's Canal Plus. (GMM)

F1 News Nico Rosberg Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Pirelli

Replies (2)

khasmir

Posts: 893
If they limit the number of laps you can do on a set of tyres to say 30% of the race distance for options and 40% for primes, then everyone needs to make at least 2 stops. Which is something FIA and Pirelli both want, so it's weird this was never adopted.
But that has nothing to do with the fact that a tyre should be allowed to go from fairly worn to complete destruction in a heartbeat. That is a safety concern and it's only normal the GPDA are not happy with the current explanation.
And I have to agree with Vettel, if this happend 200m earlier...
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- Aug 27 2015 - 18:53
scf1fan

Posts: 58
So, after so many racing laps, the drivers pounding over the curbs, their titanium rub strips sparking, a piece of concrete chips off leaving a sharp edge . . . The next driver arrives, hits it at a wrong angle and cuts almost through the joint between the "tread" and the side wall . . . Next hard corner loading that tire - Instant blow out!! (Or as the tire heat cycles down the next high speed straight . . . pick one.) Who's fault is that going to be? Or a previous driver's drive through the gravel brings a lot of "stuff" back on the track? Or one car touches another shredding a front wing which leaves a trail of carbon fiber all over the track?

First they think it's boring and want more "danger" then 2 out of over 500 tires fail, (of unknown causes) but causing no harm other than to a certain driver's ego, and they want to put bubble wrap on everything! Racing is inherently dangerous. You want tires that will not fail? Ever? Under any circumstances? Good luck with that.
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- Aug 28 2015 - 03:44