Pirelli has uncovered the causes of the tyre failures witnessed at last weekends British Grand Prix alongside announcing their plans for the near future.
The supplier came under huge amounts of criticism after four separate incidents during Sunday's race. Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne and Sergio Perez all suffered left-rear failures but on differing compounds.
The Italian firm has now confirmed that it was a series of different causes that led to the failures. These include rear tyres mounted the wrong way round, low tyre pressures, extreme cambers and high kerbs.
They also admit that the 2013 tyre compounds "do not compromise safety if used in the right way," moving the blame from the product itself to the teams for how they used them. Pirelli said that "it is essential to have access to real time operating data" which has been requested as a change to the rules.
Looking ahead to the future, the Kevlar belt rear tyres that were tested in Canada will be used in Germany and a new range of tyres will be used from Hungary onwards with the 2012 structures and 2013 compounds, combining the two. These will be tested at the up-coming Young Driver Test at Silverstone where teams will be able to run their race drivers.
Paul Hembery said in the press release: "What happened at Silverstone upsets us. With these sophisticated tyres it's vital for us to see data such as temperature, pressures and camber. While waiting for a revision to the rules, we will supply tyres that are easier to manage."
In a more detailed look at the causes for the failures, the tyres that were mounted the wrong way meant that the right rear tyre was placed on the left wheel. The 2013 tyres are asymmetrical in structure which means that they are not designed to be interchanged and must go on the correct side. The sidewalls are designed with this in mind and can only deal with specific loads on the internal and external sides. So with tyres being placed on the wrong sides, the loads on the left-rear were placed on the internal side and not the external side which is designed to hold higher loads.
Lowering the pressure in the tyres means that they are subject to more stressful working conditions and Pirelli confirmed in the statement that pressures were "excessively low" or "lower than those indicated by Pirelli." The supplier has requested to the FIA that this will be more closely monitored.
They also revealed that use of extreme camber angles and the aggressive kerbing at places like turn four helped to cause the failures. However they stress that just one element did not cause this, it was a combination of what has just been explained above.
They confirmed that the prototype tyre tested in Canada was found to be completely reliable and that it best suits the characteristics of the Nurburgring track - where Formula One now heads to this weekend. The front tyres will remain unaltered but the rear tyres will have the Kevlar belt in comparison to the current steel structure.
The new tyres that will debut in Hungary will be symmetrical for maximum stability and will combine the characteristics of the 2012 rubber with the performance of the 2013 compounds. This has all been given the green light by the FIA as has the testing of the tyres at the Silverstone circuit at the Young Driver Test.
Some obviously felt that Pirelli were attacking the teams for their misuse of the tyres and Pirelli sent out ANOTHER statement with Motorsport Director Paul Hembery saying: "Contrary to the impression that some people have formed, I would like to underline the collaboration and support that we are receiving from the teams, drivers, FIA and FOM. In no way are we intending to create arguments or attack anybody. We have taken our responsibilities upon ourselves as our press release indicates.
"But not having full control over all the elements that impact on the use of the tyres, we need everybody's contribution. With regard to this, we are receiving the full support of all the parties involved, for which we are very grateful."
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| (c) Pirelli Media |
The Italian firm has now confirmed that it was a series of different causes that led to the failures. These include rear tyres mounted the wrong way round, low tyre pressures, extreme cambers and high kerbs.
They also admit that the 2013 tyre compounds "do not compromise safety if used in the right way," moving the blame from the product itself to the teams for how they used them. Pirelli said that "it is essential to have access to real time operating data" which has been requested as a change to the rules.
Looking ahead to the future, the Kevlar belt rear tyres that were tested in Canada will be used in Germany and a new range of tyres will be used from Hungary onwards with the 2012 structures and 2013 compounds, combining the two. These will be tested at the up-coming Young Driver Test at Silverstone where teams will be able to run their race drivers.
Paul Hembery said in the press release: "What happened at Silverstone upsets us. With these sophisticated tyres it's vital for us to see data such as temperature, pressures and camber. While waiting for a revision to the rules, we will supply tyres that are easier to manage."
In a more detailed look at the causes for the failures, the tyres that were mounted the wrong way meant that the right rear tyre was placed on the left wheel. The 2013 tyres are asymmetrical in structure which means that they are not designed to be interchanged and must go on the correct side. The sidewalls are designed with this in mind and can only deal with specific loads on the internal and external sides. So with tyres being placed on the wrong sides, the loads on the left-rear were placed on the internal side and not the external side which is designed to hold higher loads.
Lowering the pressure in the tyres means that they are subject to more stressful working conditions and Pirelli confirmed in the statement that pressures were "excessively low" or "lower than those indicated by Pirelli." The supplier has requested to the FIA that this will be more closely monitored.
They also revealed that use of extreme camber angles and the aggressive kerbing at places like turn four helped to cause the failures. However they stress that just one element did not cause this, it was a combination of what has just been explained above.
They confirmed that the prototype tyre tested in Canada was found to be completely reliable and that it best suits the characteristics of the Nurburgring track - where Formula One now heads to this weekend. The front tyres will remain unaltered but the rear tyres will have the Kevlar belt in comparison to the current steel structure.
The new tyres that will debut in Hungary will be symmetrical for maximum stability and will combine the characteristics of the 2012 rubber with the performance of the 2013 compounds. This has all been given the green light by the FIA as has the testing of the tyres at the Silverstone circuit at the Young Driver Test.
Some obviously felt that Pirelli were attacking the teams for their misuse of the tyres and Pirelli sent out ANOTHER statement with Motorsport Director Paul Hembery saying: "Contrary to the impression that some people have formed, I would like to underline the collaboration and support that we are receiving from the teams, drivers, FIA and FOM. In no way are we intending to create arguments or attack anybody. We have taken our responsibilities upon ourselves as our press release indicates.
"But not having full control over all the elements that impact on the use of the tyres, we need everybody's contribution. With regard to this, we are receiving the full support of all the parties involved, for which we are very grateful."
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