Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsPirelli

Pirelli hits back after Vettel outburst

Pirelli has hit back at Sebastian Vettel’s outburst against its tyres, saying it previously tried to prevent teams from attempting long stints on tyres.

Vettel slammed the tyre manufacturer after suffering a right rear failure on the penultimate lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, saying its reasoning for Nico Rosberg’s failure during practice was “bullshit”. With Vettel attempting a one-stop strategy which required him to complete 29 laps on the medium tyre, Pirelli has now hit back at the distance Ferrari wanted the tyre to cover.

Having said Vettel’s failure was due to the tyre’s wear life, Pirelli issued a statement on Sunday night claiming it had foreseen such an issue two years ago.

“In November 2013, Pirelli requested that there should be rules to govern the maximum number of laps that can be driven on the same set of tyres, among other parameters to do with correct tyre usage,” the Pirelli statement read. “This request was not accepted.

“The proposal put forward a maximum distance equivalent to 50% of the grand prix distance for the prime tyre and 30% for the option. These conditions, if applied today at Spa, would have limited the maximum number of laps on the medium compound to 22.”

Vettel’s medium compound tyre failed on the 28th lap of his stint.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.