Pirelli is under fire for multiple tyre failures during the opening session in the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. A total of three tyre failures greeted the drivers, causing multiple stoppages of the session and limiting the running for the session.
The first tyre failure occurred in turn six only a little less than a half hour into the session. The failure occurred on Felipe Massa’s left-rear tyre and caused the Brazilian to send his Williams into a spin. This brought out the red flag, as the marshals worked to clear the gravel from the track. Shortly after the session was resumed, Massa suffered a nearly identical tyre failure.
The team investigated the car in an attempt to get to the bottom of the issue, but no problems were detected. The second tyre failure proved otherwise. There was some speculation that the Williams driver had run over some debris prior to the failure, but Pirelli has since investigated the issues and determined that there was no puncture to the tyre. Instead, it appeared that the rubber tyre simply slipped off of the rim.
Massa was not the only driver to suffer from tyre issues, as Kevin Magnussen returned the Renault to the pits with tyre and suspension damage shortly before the first hour arrived. The damage occurred on the back straight and involved the left-rear quarter of the car. It is not clear whether the high-speed failure was a result of a suspension failure or another tyre failure, although many believe that it was a result of the left-rear tyre, given the issues to Massa’s car earlier in the session. Pirelli is further investigating the issues, but insists that neither failure was a result of the tyre.
The Shanghai International Circuit is tough on two main components of the car: the brakes and the tyres. Because of the combination of various corners and straights, managing these components is vital to a successful race in China. The Pirelli Motorsport Director, Paul Hembery, had complimented the company’s 2016 Formula One tyre lineup on Monday, saying: “China is a very different type of circuit to the two that we’ve visited up to now this year, yet the tyre nomination is the same, which underlines the adaptability of our product under a wide range of circumstances.”
