Pirelli’s investigation into the Qatar GP punctures
It took a while for the mandatory investigations, however ultimately, Pirelli knowledgeable the groups of the findings relating to the punctures suffered by Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton within the ultimate part of the final Qatar GP. Based on experiences gathered by the respected The Race, the basis reason behind the punctures—which triggered a chaotic race finale with the Security Automobile deployment and Lando Norris’s penalty for failing to respect yellow flags as a consequence of a rearview mirror misplaced on observe from Alex Albon’s Williams—was not the sharp curbs however quite the traditional put on of the tires.
No connection to the 2023 occasions
Again in 2023, the Lusail weekend was closely impacted by a structural integrity problem with the tires. They have been broken when operating at excessive velocity over the excessively “sharp” curbs on the observe, main the FIA to impose three necessary pit stops for all drivers. Happily, this problem didn’t reoccur in final 12 months’s version of the race on the circuit close to Doha, which had been correctly modified with the removing of the so-called “killer curbs.” Nonetheless, the ultimate part of the GP was marked by suspicious punctures, occurring virtually concurrently, on the left entrance tires of Hamilton’s Mercedes and Sainz’s Ferrari.
The reason for Pirelli’s Qatar GP punctures
Based on Pirelli’s inner investigations performed over the winter, the punctures have been as a substitute attributable to regular tire put on. Nearly all drivers had accomplished 34 or 35 laps out of the scheduled 57 (effectively over half the race) and have been making an attempt to increase the primary stint on Medium tires, ready for a possible race neutralization—both a Security Automobile or Digital Security Automobile—as a consequence of particles from the Williams being close to the racing line. This impasse was finally resolved exactly by the punctures suffered by Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton.
“Regular” put on for Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz’s tires
Based on Pirelli’s conclusions, as reported by The Race, the traits of the observe additionally performed a key function in bringing the left entrance tires to 100% put on earlier than failure. Lusail’s asphalt may be very clean however generates excessive grip, giving drivers the arrogance to push with out worrying about overheating the tires. Consequently, this kind of circuit doesn’t degrade the compounds as a consequence of thermal stress as seen on most different tracks, which means lap occasions stay aggressive with out efficiency drops—proper up till the purpose of failure, as seen with Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.
Pirelli finding out countermeasures for the long run
For that reason, Pirelli can be exploring countermeasures to forestall drivers from pushing tires to the tip of their lifecycle, risking additional punctures on comparable circuits. The answer of imposing a most variety of laps per compound—adopted in Qatar in 2023 as a result of sharp curbs—doesn’t seem possible this time. Based on The Race, the Milan-based firm could as a substitute tackle the difficulty by bringing softer tires, that are much less sturdy and extra inclined to thermal stress.
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