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Verstappen goes against Pirelli: "We have the data and we gave it to them"

18 June 2021 at 08:25
Last update 18 June 2021 at 10:07
  • GPblog.com

The battle axe between Pirelli and the teams has not been buried yet. Max Verstappen is annoyed that Pirelli haven't taken the blame and states that, contrary to the information Pirelli gives, the Italian tyre supplier does have all the data given to them by Red Bull.

Verstappen was leading the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and there seemed no problem. The Dutchman was in position to increase his lead in the standings, but a blowout ruined it all. As well as Verstappen's tyre, Lance Stroll's tyre also blew out. Pirelli have still pointed the blame at the teams, because they would use too low a tyre pressure.

Verstappen is fed up with Pirelli

"We have the data. We can see tyre pressures whilst driving and we gave it to them. We were not below the minimum so from our side we didn't do anything wrong as a team," said Verstappen when talking to Sky Sports. The Dutchman is therefore frustrated that Pirelli continues to shift the blame onto the teams despite everything.

"When two crashes, luckily everyone walked away from, happen and clearly both teams were operating within their limits. I don't understand why you can't say the teams didn't do anything wrong on track, they got the data we gave it to them."

Pirelli blames F1 teams

"I find that tough to take. When it's about safety when people could have been hurt that they just say in a vague way, 'we don't know what teams are doing'. Well we know what we have been doing and we showed it to them and it was within the limits," he added.  

When Ted Kravitz asks further if Red Bull actually showed the data on tyre pressures during the race, Verstappen remains adamant: ''Yes, they saw it." Even when Kravitz says that Pirelli states that they don't have that data at their disposal, Max is clear. ''They've seen it.''