Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s chief executive, has issued a coded reprimand to Ferrari and backed the tyre manufacturers Pirelli following the blow-out row in the Belgium Grand Prix last month.
The four-times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel described the situation as “unacceptable” after his tyre failure at 200mph on the penultimate lap of the Spa race, when running third.
He had said: “Things like that are not allowed to happen, full stop. If it happens 200 metres earlier, I am not standing here now. I don’t know what else needs to happen.” But on Thursday a rare statement from Ecclestone’s Formula One Management organisation said: “Pirelli has been a first-class partner of Formula One during the five seasons in which it has been the official supplier of tyres to the FIA Formula One World Championship and we continue to have full confidence in the safety, quality and suitability of its tyres.”
Then, in what can only be interpreted as an attack on Ferrari, who will be competing in their “home” race in the Italian Grand Prix here on Sunday, the FOM statement added: “Pirelli provides strong guidance to competitors about any performance limitations of the tyres supplied. Competitors should heed Pirelli’s expert advice when setting their race strategy and tactics, and if they do not, it is at their own risk.”
Pirelli’s contract with F1 expires at the end of next season and talks are currently under way about a new deal. But in the last line of the FOM statement there was a dispiriting message for Pirelli’s rivals, Michelin. It read: “Thank you, Pirelli, for helping us to deliver excitement to Formula One fans.”
Monza is the fastest track on the F1 circuit and the tyre debate was always going to dominate the agenda following Vettel’s accident, and a similar 190mph blow out involving the Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg two days earlier.
But even as Ecclestone and FOM were preparing their statement, Vettel was retreating hurriedly from his furious and indignant stance at Spa. In the FIA’s official press conference the Ferrari driver said: “We’ve been looking very closely into the issue we had.”
He added: “Pirelli has been supportive and very open in the discussions, which is the most important thing, and to make sure we learn from that. They have been very, very professional, have handled it with extreme care, very seriously, things are going the right way, and our target now is to improve the situation and make progress.”
Just before the press conference Pirelli had issued their own statement, in which they blamed external factors, particularly large amounts of debris, for the incidents in Spa. “The events at Spa can be put down to external factors, linked with the prolonged use of the tyres on one of the most severe tracks of the championship,” they said.
But Lewis Hamilton – sporting a new bleach-blond hairstyle – said that Pirelli’s proposed solution – to increase their tyre pressures – would be “a disaster”. He said: “I don’t think any of us have tried 5psi more because they are not designed to have 5psi more; they work in a range. So we will be moving out of the optimum range of the tyre, we’ll be using a different part of the tyre, which means more wear, less grip. It’s going to be a disaster.”
Opinions among the drivers are still mixed. Hamilton’s former team-mate Jenson Button doubted whether an increase in tyre pressure would make little difference to the cuts. But he said that Pirelli should be encouraged to do whatever they thought was required.
Meanwhile, the Lotus driver Romain Grosjean, who was third in Spa, said: “I don’t think anyone is happy. Seb didn’t go off track, there are kerbs and you can use them. I don’t think it’s a good explanation. On the other hand, it’s very hard for Pirelli to replicate what we are asking of the tyres when they don’t have a current car and some testing to develop their tyres. We just need to find a way that the tyres don’t go off.”
