Pirelli blame tyre failures on F1 teams “putting them on cars and driving”

Pirelli have blamed the series of tyre failures at the weekend’s British Grand Prix on the way F1 teams are using the tyres, most notably that they are “putting them onto racing cars and driving on them, sometimes really fast”.

The Italian company has modified the tyres for future races but say that teams need to take their share of responsibility and review the way that they are using them, maybe considering not driving so fast or for so long.

“In tests we have found the tyres to be perfectly safe if stored in a neat pile at room temperature. In these conditions very few of them spontaneously explode.” said a statement from Pirelli.

“We even tried putting them onto a car, then taking them back off and replacing them with others. None exploded during this process at all so it is our opinion that the fault lies with the teams.”

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery went on to clarify that the company are in no way trying to attack anybody else or start an argument, and that they have taken their share of responsibility. This share apparently being precisely zero.

“We have no problem at all with our road tyres because motorists are generally very responsible and very rarely drive round and round the same piece of road at speeds in excess of 200mph for extended periods of time. F1 teams could learn a lot from ordinary motorists in this respect.” said Hembery.

“We have taken concerns on board though and made some modifications to the tyres for future races. The new tyres have then been extensively tested by putting them onto a child’s go-kart and letting my six year-old son pedal it across the garden.”

“Only once across though, I didn’t want him getting killed.”

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