What solutions for pneumatic problems?

The 2013 British Grand Prix was marked not by Nico Rosberg’s victory—his 2nd of the year and 3rd in F1—but by the issues several drivers faced with Pirelli tires. Sergio Pérez had experienced a problem during free practice, but in the race, no fewer than 5 drivers were affected: Hamilton, Massa, Vergne, Pérez, and Gutiérrez, while others narrowly avoided trouble, such as Alonso or Vettel.

Following these tire explosions or delaminations, numerous debris were scattered on the track, forcing race control to call the safety car out twice. Charlie Whiting, the FIA race director, even admitted – quoted by Autosport – that he almost stopped the race: “We were close to having a red flag; it crossed my mind.”

However, Whiting knows that Pirelli needs to be given time to analyze the problem in detail and look for a solution: « It is too early to draw conclusions. They [Pirelli] have a lot of analyses to carry out, including on tires that haven’t had problems—perhaps they will find some that were about to encounter a problem, and that will give us a better indication of what happened. It is too early to say what will happen, so it is too early to say what must be done. »

Pirelli takes the problem seriously as Paul Hembery stated: « Obviously, there have been several issues with the left-rear tires that had never occurred before. We take the situation very seriously and are currently analyzing all the tires in order to determine the cause as soon as possible, before the next Grand Prix in Germany. For the moment, we cannot say more until we have completed our investigation and analyzed all these incidents, which is our top priority. »

The person in charge of the competition within the Milan manufacturer also wanted to specify that these problems were not related to the new bonding process recently implemented.

In order to resolve the issue as soon as possible, the FIA has invited Pirelli to participate in the next Sporting Working Group meeting, which will take place on Wednesday at the Nürburgring. Even though a revolution is unlikely to occur before Germany, the objective would be to ensure that this type of problem does not recur in the future.

Many stakeholders are now waiting for a response and solutions to the problem encountered, starting with the drivers. Jean-Eric Vergne has expressed being upset and believes that something needs to be done quickly.

Sergio Pérez, double victim this weekend, is worried about the turn of events: “The tires are a concern. Fortunately, nothing serious happened, but we need to get together, have an explanation, and do something.” Same feeling from Mark Webber, even if he was not affected by this problem today: “When something like this happens, it’s a bit like Russian roulette. It’s never comfortable to see other drivers retire for the same reason and drive thinking it might be your turn too.”

This feeling of danger is also shared by Jenson Button: « For safety reasons, the causes of the tire issues encountered this weekend need to be resolved. It’s dangerous for the driver in the car because they can lose control; but it’s also dangerous for the driver of the car behind because you can be hit by a tire debris. Hopefully, things can be changed for the next race. »

Felipe Massa, a victim today at Silverstone and also recently in Bahrain, expects a quick response before the next race: « Our biggest concern is safety, because even if I can’t say what happened today, it’s unacceptable to drive knowing you are not safe. Even though, fortunately, nothing serious happened, what we saw is very dangerous. I had this problem twice in Bahrain, and if nothing is done as soon as possible, I am certain it will happen again. »

The Ferrari driver even went so far as to describe the situation as unacceptable, as quoted by *The F1 Times*. He even hinted at the possibility of a race boycott by the drivers if nothing is done, although this is unlikely given the commitments of the drivers and teams to F1.

In addition to the drivers, team principals have also spoken up to demand a quick solution to this problem. Two solutions have thus emerged: a return to the 2012 tires or modifying the young driver tests into tire tests with the regular drivers.

Stefano Domenicali, director of Scuderia Ferrari, believes that the three-day testing session for young drivers in about two weeks at Silverstone could be an opportunity to help Pirelli: « It’s something we need to work on together as members of F1 to resolve it. I have an idea that obviously needs to be discussed in the coming days – we have testing planned here at Silverstone that is supposed to be for young drivers. Given that this track is demanding on the tires, and that we really need to do something with Pirelli during these tests to solve the problem, I would suggest using the race drivers – because it is also important for them. »

Same sound from Christian Horner, director of the Red Bull team: « It happens that there will be tests here in a few weeks. It is currently planned for young drivers, but perhaps it should be open to regular drivers or test drivers who can provide interesting feedback that Pirelli could use on a circuit where they have encountered problems. »

If this idea has been proposed to Charlie Whiting who could authorize the licensed drivers to participate in these tests, Martin Whitmarsh, head of the McLaren team, has shown himself more skeptical about this solution: “I think it’s too late.” Nevertheless, he believes it might be more interesting to return to the tires used in 2012: “We had tires with which we raced last year that can be rebuilt, or perhaps already exist, and clearly at this point in the season, it’s the right thing to do.”

Christian Horner is not against the idea: There is a Pirelli problem, they need to find a solution, they need to sort this out. Whether they go back to last year’s tires or another tire, they need a solution. The most logical thing would be to return to the tires that worked well in the past. The tires we had last year did not have this kind of problem.

Eric Boullier, director of the Lotus team, is also in favor of returning to the 2012 tires: « Returning to last year’s Kevlar belt could be a solution. I don’t know what they have in stock and how quickly they can produce tires. That’s a question for Pirelli. It will be a different track next weekend and first of all, we need to find out what caused these problems. But it is a concern. »

For the moment, the problem remains unresolved and Pirelli is expected to be at the heart of the news in the coming days. At the request of Jean Todt, director of the FIA – International Automobile Federation – a meeting will be held this Wednesday with Pirelli officials to hear the analysis of the problem encountered in recent days and to find a solution to remedy the urgent safety issue it causes:

« I had a meeting with Pirelli officials. They will analyze the problem encountered in recent days and will come back with proposals on Wednesday during a big meeting with the teams on site to solve these safety issues. We will be able to make a decision afterward, » confirms Jean Todt on Canal+.