Pirelli’s investigation into the Qatar GP punctures
It took a while for the required 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 response to studies gathered by the respected The Race, the basis reason 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 as a consequence of a rearview mirror misplaced on observe from Alex Albon’s Williams—was not the sharp curbs however quite the traditional 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 operating at excessive velocity over the excessively “sharp” curbs on the observe, main the FIA to impose three necessary pit stops for all drivers. Happily, this concern 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 response to Pirelli’s inner investigations carried out over the winter, the punctures have been as an alternative 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 making an attempt to increase the primary stint on Medium tires, ready for a possible race neutralization—both a Security Automobile or Digital Security Automobile—as a consequence 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 response to 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 clean however generates excessive grip, giving drivers the arrogance to push with out worrying about overheating the tires. In consequence, one of these circuit doesn’t degrade the compounds as a consequence of thermal stress as seen on most different tracks, that means lap instances 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
Because of this, Pirelli can be exploring countermeasures to stop drivers from pushing tires to the top 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 response to The Race, the Milan-based firm might as an alternative handle the problem by bringing softer tires, that are much less sturdy and extra vulnerable to thermal stress.
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