Pirelli launch urgent probe after Lewis Hamilton’s tyre explodes on dramatic last F1 lap of British GP

PIRELLI are investigating what caused the punctures that sparked havoc at the end of the British GP. The Italian tyre-supplier will “analyse everything 360 degrees” to find out why Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz and then race leader Lewis Hamilton all suffered front-left punctures in the final four laps. Max Verstappen said his tyre was also […]

PIRELLI are investigating what caused the punctures that sparked havoc at the end of the British GP.

The Italian tyre-supplier will “analyse everything 360 degrees” to find out why Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz and then race leader Lewis Hamilton all suffered front-left punctures in the final four laps.

AFP

Pirelli have launched an urgent probe after Lewis Hamilton’s tyre exploded on dramatic last F1 lap of British GP[/caption]

Max Verstappen said his tyre was also close to going pop, with up to 50 cuts detected, believed to be caused by Kimi Raikkonen’s front wing failure.

Pirelli’s F1 boss Mario Isola said: “We will investigate what happened in the last few laps.

“It’s a bit early now to give you any conclusion.

“It could be high wear, because for sure tyres with 38 laps or more on this circuit are quite worn, but I’m not saying that the wear is the cause of the issue.

“It can be debris, because we had the pieces of the front wing of Kimi that were on track, but also some other debris.”

He added: “So that’s why we want to investigate not only the tyres with a failure, but all the tyres used in the last few laps of the race, to understand if we find any other cut or any other possible indication on what happened.

“We don’t want to exclude anything, we want to analyse everything 360 degrees and avoid excluding any possibility because it’s a big mistake when you make these kinds of investigations.

“We have to consider all the possibilities.”