F1 News
Pirelli probes Verstappen's tyre: More drivers at risk of tyre burst?
- GPblog.com
Max Verstappen's race was prematurely ended by his right rear tyre this Sunday. The Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna was over after 50 laps when his tyre blew out and the Dutchman spun off the track.
Pirelli research
The relevant rear tyre of Verstappen was sent to Pirelli's home base in Milan to be examined together with an unidentified selection of other tyres. The tyre supplier will investigate whether other drivers were at risk of getting a blowout just like Verstappen. Racefans.net reports that the tyres of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo also showed signs of bulging, which could indicate that they might have been at the same risk as Verstappen.
Mercedes has confirmed that Hamilton had a "small vibration" in his tyres during the race, although in his opinion it was not very bad. After the failure of Verstappen, Mercedes expressed concern about Hamilton's rear tyres, to which the Brit replied that his right rear wheel looked pretty bad.
Not the first time
Verstappen is not the first driver to suffer from sudden tyre failure this season. During the British Grand Prix, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Saiz experienced tyre failure and in Tuscany, it was Lance Stroll who crashed due to a flat tyre. Pirelli attributed this to the extremely high cornering forces generated by the cars this year.