Pirelli’s investigation into the Qatar GP punctures
It took a while for the mandatory investigations, however ultimately, Pirelli knowledgeable the groups of the findings relating to the punctures suffered by Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton within the last part of the final Qatar GP. In keeping with studies gathered by the respected The Race, the foundation explanation for the punctures—which triggered a chaotic race finale with the Security Automotive deployment and Lando Norris’s penalty for failing to respect yellow flags attributable to a rearview mirror misplaced on observe from Alex Albon’s Williams—was not the sharp curbs however relatively the conventional put on of the tires.
No connection to the 2023 occasions
Again in 2023, the Lusail weekend was closely impacted by a structural integrity concern with the tires. They have been broken when working at excessive velocity over the excessively “sharp” curbs on the observe, main the FIA to impose three obligatory pit stops for all drivers. Happily, this concern didn’t reoccur in final 12 months’s version of the race on the circuit close to Doha, which had been correctly modified with the elimination of the so-called “killer curbs.” Nonetheless, the ultimate part of the GP was marked by suspicious punctures, occurring nearly concurrently, on the left entrance tires of Hamilton’s Mercedes and Sainz’s Ferrari.
The reason for Pirelli’s Qatar GP punctures
In keeping with Pirelli’s inside investigations performed over the winter, the punctures have been as a substitute attributable to regular tire put on. Nearly all drivers had accomplished 34 or 35 laps out of the scheduled 57 (properly over half the race) and have been trying to increase the primary stint on Medium tires, ready for a possible race neutralization—both a Security Automotive or Digital Security Automotive—attributable to particles from the Williams being close to the racing line. This impasse was finally resolved exactly by the punctures suffered by Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton.
“Regular” put on for Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz’s tires
In keeping with Pirelli’s conclusions, as reported by The Race, the traits of the observe additionally performed a key function in bringing the left entrance tires to 100% put on earlier than failure. Lusail’s asphalt could be very easy however generates excessive grip, giving drivers the arrogance to push with out worrying about overheating the tires. In consequence, this sort of circuit doesn’t degrade the compounds attributable to thermal stress as seen on most different tracks, which means lap occasions stay aggressive with out efficiency drops—proper up till the purpose of failure, as seen with Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.
Pirelli learning countermeasures for the long run
For that reason, Pirelli can also be exploring countermeasures to forestall drivers from pushing tires to the tip of their lifecycle, risking additional punctures on related circuits. The answer of imposing a most variety of laps per compound—adopted in Qatar in 2023 as a result of sharp curbs—doesn’t seem possible this time. In keeping with The Race, the Milan-based firm might as a substitute deal with the problem by bringing softer tires, that are much less sturdy and extra vulnerable to thermal stress.
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