Pirelli has confirmed none of the failures suffered in FP1 by Williams and Renault were caused by the tyres.
Felipe Massa went off under braking at Turn 6 with a left rear puncture, before later rejoining the track and suffering a second puncture of the same tyre on the long back straight. Those problems were soon followed by Kevin Magnussen appearing on the same straight with a broken left rear suspension and deflated tyre. On each occasion the soft tyres were being used.
The session was red flagged while the track was cleared of debris, with Pirelli undertaking investigations to determine the cause of the problems and ruling out any issue with the tyres ahead of FP2.
“After full investigation and full sharing with the team, we confirm that no one of the failures occurred to both Williams and Renault during FP1 are tyre related,” Pirelli said.
Magnussen’s problem saw the Renault driver ruled out of FP2, while Massa was able to run during the afternoon session. Massa himself said at the end of FP1 that Williams believed bodywork was the cause of his failures.
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