Bad news for Pirelli, as the company’s wet weather tyre test was cut short after a crash involving Sebastian Vettel. This was Vettel’s first test of the new Pirelli wet weather tyres. He was not injured in the accident.
The incident occurred early in the afternoon, cutting short Ferrari’s day of tyre testing at their private circuit, Fiorano Circuit. The circuit was artificially soaked to simulate wet weather conditions using a sprinkler system. Ferrari was using version of the SF15-T car that had been modified to simulate the 2017 technical regulations.
Vettel lost control of the car in a downhill left-hand section of the circuit, planting the car head first into the barriers. It was believed that Vettel was performing a warm up lap at the time of the incident, meaning that he was likely not driving the car to its maximum performance. Although the car was heavily damaged in the collision, Vettel escaped with only minor bruises.
The Italian team is set to complete a second day of testing for Pirelli at the same circuit tomorrow, but it’s unknown whether the necessary repairs will be made to the car before the start of the test. Vettel will not be in the car tomorrow, since the team’s third driver Antonio Giovinazzi is scheduled to be driving.
The car has been returned to the Ferrari factory in Maranello for repairs.
