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 ultimate part of the final Qatar GP. In keeping with reviews gathered by the respected The Race, the basis explanation for the punctures—which triggered a chaotic race finale with the Security Automobile deployment and Lando Norris’s penalty for failing to respect yellow flags on account of a rearview mirror misplaced on monitor from Alex Albon’s Williams—was not the sharp curbs however reasonably 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 situation with the tires. They had been broken when working at excessive pace over the excessively “sharp” curbs on the monitor, main the FIA to impose three necessary pit stops for all drivers. Luckily, this situation didn’t reoccur in final yr’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 carried out over the winter, the punctures had 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 had been trying to increase the primary stint on Medium tires, ready for a possible race neutralization—both a Security Automobile or Digital Security Automobile—on account of particles from the Williams being close to the racing line. This impasse was in the end 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 monitor additionally performed a key function in bringing the left entrance tires to 100% put on earlier than failure. Lusail’s asphalt may be very clean however generates excessive grip, giving drivers the arrogance to push with out worrying about overheating the tires. Because of this, this sort of circuit doesn’t degrade the compounds on account of 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 finding out countermeasures for the longer term
For that reason, Pirelli can be exploring countermeasures to stop drivers from pushing tires to the top of their lifecycle, risking additional punctures on comparable circuits. The answer of imposing a most variety of laps per compound—adopted in Qatar in 2023 because of the 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 inclined to thermal stress.
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