F1 News
Next blowout not excluded: "The biggest problem is Pirelli are in a monopoly"
- GPblog.com
Pirelli completed its investigation into the blowouts in Azerbaijan on Tuesday, but there is no really clear cause. According to Peter Windsor, that cause is 'just wear and tear', and a lack of cooperation is the problem for Pirelli and the Formula One teams.
Pirelli and the FIA had to investigate after the two blown tyres for Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan, and came to the conclusion that there was no fault in the design. Debris or a sharp component on the track was not the cause either. So what was the cause, is the question?
Pirelli feels no pressure
"Pirelli have been very careful to say there were no signs of failure due to ware, or manufacturing fault so they've covered themselves well there. But that leaves an open question about this circumferential failure on the sidewall. That is a serious thing. All the teams will be thinking: a) that shouldn't happen, b) if it didn't happened because of a manufacturing fault then what caused it. Ultimately, the amount of miles on that tyre and energy caused it. The statement says Pirelli will work with the FIA and the teams to come up with probably new protocols to do with tyre pressures for upcoming races," says Windsor in his new video.
"The biggest issue here is that Pirelli are in a monopoly situation. There's no pressure on them to have to produce anything other than the tyre that does the job for F1 and the show. With tyre testing, you can go into long ranges of running and you see what the tyres are going to do after 30 laps of Baku. It's certainly something Pirelli don't have in their technical scope."
Bridgestone and Ferrari
According to Windsor, tyres in Formula 1 have always been a 'black art'. Only in the cooperation between Bridgestone and Ferrari a lot of testing and data exchange took place to develop the best tyre. Now, however, this is no longer the case as there is only one tyre supplier for all teams.
"Pirelli don't have the extra information, there's no need for them to go that far to spend that amount of money and time and effort. They just want to produce tyres for a two or three stop race and get their name out. Teams don't get the information anyway, because it's a competitive sport. We're in a situation where we have so much information from the cars, but the one thing we don't have information on is the tyres. To predict what a tyre at some circuits are going to be doing after 40 laps based on a 10-12 lap run on a Friday is a big ask," the former Williams team manager concludes.