F1’s governing body on Thursday said it is satisfied Pirelli’s tyres are structurally safe.
After Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel suffered high-speed blowouts at Spa-Francorchamps, the latter German lashed out at the quality and safety of Pirelli’s tyres. In the wake of Vettel’s outburst, Pirelli said it conducted a detailed investigation into the failures. The Italian company announced at Monza on Thursday said the investigation confirmed there was no “structural problem” with its tyres, and that the failures were due the “exceptional combined effect of debris on the track and prolonged tyre usage on a circuit that is particularly demanding”.
Pirelli also said an unusually high number of cuts were found in other tyres used by teams at Spa, so “in order to guarantee greater safety, Pirelli proposes with the FIA to undertake a study to optimise the way in which circuits are cleaned.” The FIA has backed Pirelli’s findings ahead of the Italian grand prix at Monza, which is another very high speed circuit. “The FIA is satisfied with the thoroughness of the investigation and Pirelli’s conclusions as to the reasons for the tyre failures in Belgium,” the Paris federation said in a statement. “Based on this, the FIA is willing to consider any safety recommendations made by the tyre supplier for the Italian GP and for the remainder of the season.”
