F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Incredible tyre wobble effect investigated by Pirelli

Pirelli is thoroughly investigating a strange tyre wobble phenomenon which affected several drivers in qualifying yesterday at Spa.

The massive vibrating effect was caught on camera as slow motion replays showed several cars affected by the unknown issue as they exited the final chicane at Spa.

The amplitude of the rear end deformation movement was so severe that it broke off part of the rear wing of Lance Stroll's Williams in Q1.

Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola was at a loss to explain a problem which he had witnessed for the very first time yesterday.

"We are looking at what they can be or which is the type of stress on the tyre," he told Motorsport.com on Saturday.

"At the moment I don't have a lot of information because we are working together with the teams to better understand this effect.

"It seems that we have this at the exit of the bus stop, and exit of Turn 1, so slow speed corner in traction. We have to better understand it. It could be an effect of the grip with the torque.

"Obviously the grip this year is much higher and the tyre is wider, so it could be a deformation of the contact patch and the torque that generates these vibrations.

"We are now looking at the data from the teams in order to better understand this effect."

"We have often seen before a kind of standing wave in the sidewall, but in this case, we're seeing a standing wave on the tread with sort of a flat threepenny bit shape to it," he said.

"I've never seen that before. It's a very high amount of energy in that, as you have seen in the video."

Sunday morning however, based on overnight work and analysis, Pirelli's Isola ruled out an integrity issue involving its rubber.

"In all our investigations on the laboratories the tyres are OK," Isola told Motorsport.com.

"Now we’re having a look in the data more in detail on this specific effect.

"What is important to understand how is this effect generated. We had the time to speak to the teams last night, but then they had to go, and we had some more information this morning.

“It looks like we have this vibration is just out of Turn 19 and Turn 1, so it is a specific point, it’s not on all the circuit. But because it is the first time we see it so clearly – and maybe also the slow motion images were announcing a little bit this effect – when we see this, we want to understand it.

“We are checking with all the teams, because it’s important to have feedback from them. They have not only the data, they look at the suspension, they look at the floor, they look at the wings, so they can give us more complete feedback. Obviously if you touch certain frequencies, then you can generate a failure.”

Check out the unprecedented phenomenon in this short video.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.

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