Pirelli has been summoned to attend a meeting of the Sporting Committee - that has been called by Jean Todt - alongside Formula One team bosses by the FIA after the events of the British Grand Prix that have created yet more cause for concern.
The race was overshadowed by four left-rear tyre failures that shook up the result of the race and raised concerns over the safety of the Pirelli tyres once again. Pirelli have left all questions unanswered until they discover the full facts.
It is understood by Sky Sports F1 that a meeting will take place on the Wednesday of the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring circuit in which Pirelli have been summoned too attend by the FIA. Teams want answers over the failures that potentially put drivers at risk during the race and send debris flying into the chasing pack.
Lewis Hamilton was the first car to suffer on lap nine before Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne and Sergio Perez all suffered high speed delaminations.
Paul Hembery, Motorsport Director at Pirelli, has said that the event wasn't "foreseen" and that "we've seen something new, a different type of problem." He told reporters after the race: "When we've got the facts we can understand what's happened and get to the core of the issue. We take these things seriously and when we have the answers we'll let you know."
When pushed for an answer, Hembery said that the want to get the facts right before giving a response to questions: "It was one tyre at the back, the left-rear, so we need to understand that. It's pointless me adding anything until we have all the facts. We really want to analyse it properly to give the correct reply."
Pirelli were confident going into the weekend that changes to the bonding process during manufacturing of the tyres would help to solve the delamination issues witnessed earlier in the season.
It had originally planned to introduce more radical changes to the tyre compounds but it is understood that some teams failed to agree on the terms.
Despite the changes, Pirelli has "excluded" the change to the bonding process as the cause of the problems despite investigations being in very early stages.
Sergio Perez, who suffered to tyre failures during the race weekend, said in a team statement that the "tyres are a big concern" and that "luckily nothing too serious happened to anyone." However he admitted that "we need to sit down together, get an explanation and get things done."
Drivers were warned after the first tyre failure to steer clear of the Silverstone kerbs. Fernando Alonso admitted that he failed to do so but said that he didn't feel that the kerbs were the problem: "I don't think that the kerbs have any influence because I have been racing 12 years now in Silverstone and the kerbs were never a problem."
However the double world champion admitted that it was a "scary moment" to witness Sergio Perez's tyre fail right in front of him. He said that he was "lucky" as he had already committed to going right.
Lewis Hamilton was asked in the driver pen whether the tyres were a big concern. His response? "Yeah, big time - they need to do something." He even went on to say it was "unacceptable" before adding that the problem was "really unfortunate" as it dropped him down to 21st and gave the Brit plenty of work to do.
The delaminations over the race weekend may have been new, but they were very dangerous as shown by the huge amounts of debris being thrown into the air and into the path of other cars. Kimi Raikkonen had a face full of flying rubber as he followed Jean-Eric Vergne down the Hangar Straight as his left-rear failed.
I have always been in Pirelli's corner. When teams moan, I felt that they did a job that fit the brief given and teams needed to just deal with it. However these failures areI very concerning and Formula One was very fortunate today that drivers were able to keep their cars under control and out of the barriers. Pirelli have plenty of investigating to do and have plenty of teams awaiting answers.
There is not much that can be done between now and Germany but some in the paddock expect tyre changes to be made for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
It is understood by Sky Sports F1 that a meeting will take place on the Wednesday of the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring circuit in which Pirelli have been summoned too attend by the FIA. Teams want answers over the failures that potentially put drivers at risk during the race and send debris flying into the chasing pack.
Lewis Hamilton was the first car to suffer on lap nine before Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne and Sergio Perez all suffered high speed delaminations.
Paul Hembery, Motorsport Director at Pirelli, has said that the event wasn't "foreseen" and that "we've seen something new, a different type of problem." He told reporters after the race: "When we've got the facts we can understand what's happened and get to the core of the issue. We take these things seriously and when we have the answers we'll let you know."
When pushed for an answer, Hembery said that the want to get the facts right before giving a response to questions: "It was one tyre at the back, the left-rear, so we need to understand that. It's pointless me adding anything until we have all the facts. We really want to analyse it properly to give the correct reply."
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
It had originally planned to introduce more radical changes to the tyre compounds but it is understood that some teams failed to agree on the terms.
Despite the changes, Pirelli has "excluded" the change to the bonding process as the cause of the problems despite investigations being in very early stages.
Sergio Perez, who suffered to tyre failures during the race weekend, said in a team statement that the "tyres are a big concern" and that "luckily nothing too serious happened to anyone." However he admitted that "we need to sit down together, get an explanation and get things done."
Drivers were warned after the first tyre failure to steer clear of the Silverstone kerbs. Fernando Alonso admitted that he failed to do so but said that he didn't feel that the kerbs were the problem: "I don't think that the kerbs have any influence because I have been racing 12 years now in Silverstone and the kerbs were never a problem."
However the double world champion admitted that it was a "scary moment" to witness Sergio Perez's tyre fail right in front of him. He said that he was "lucky" as he had already committed to going right.
Lewis Hamilton was asked in the driver pen whether the tyres were a big concern. His response? "Yeah, big time - they need to do something." He even went on to say it was "unacceptable" before adding that the problem was "really unfortunate" as it dropped him down to 21st and gave the Brit plenty of work to do.
The delaminations over the race weekend may have been new, but they were very dangerous as shown by the huge amounts of debris being thrown into the air and into the path of other cars. Kimi Raikkonen had a face full of flying rubber as he followed Jean-Eric Vergne down the Hangar Straight as his left-rear failed.
I have always been in Pirelli's corner. When teams moan, I felt that they did a job that fit the brief given and teams needed to just deal with it. However these failures areI very concerning and Formula One was very fortunate today that drivers were able to keep their cars under control and out of the barriers. Pirelli have plenty of investigating to do and have plenty of teams awaiting answers.
There is not much that can be done between now and Germany but some in the paddock expect tyre changes to be made for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.
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