(Reuters) – A spate of tyre failures throughout final month’s Qatar Grand Prix were caused by working over the circuit’s kerbs and never because of any manufacturing defects, Pirelli mentioned on Friday.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, Williams pair George Russell and Nicholas Latifi and McLaren’s Lando Norris suffered left-front failures in the course of the floodlit race at Losail two weeks in the past as they tried to make a one-stop technique work.
“Based on the findings obtained to date, the origin of the issue is principally as a result of period of time these tyres were run on the kerbs, at excessive velocity and with appreciable lateral and vertical masses,” mentioned Pirelli in a press release on the Saudi Grand Prix.
The provider mentioned the state of affairs was distinctive to the Losail circuit, a daily MotoGP venue which was getting used for the primary time in Formula One.
“The heavy demand caused by working over these kerbs… broken the tyre building and led to a lack of strain within the inner sidewall, which consequently caused the construction to break down after a number of seconds,” Pirelli mentioned.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, modifying by Christian Radnedge)
