Pirelli dismiss tyre issues following Korean GP

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery has dismissed any concerns over the tyre manufacturer’s latest failure.

Pirelli dismiss tyre issues following Korean GP

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery has dismissed any concerns over the tyre manufacturer’s latest failure.

Just three months on from the series of blowouts during the British Grand Prix that cast a shadow over Formula One, Pirelli and Hembery will likely have looked on anxiously at the incident involving Sergio Perez in Korea.

Powering down the long straight between turns one and two at the Korea International Circuit, Perez suddenly had to fight for control of his McLaren as the right-front delaminated.

It is the third time this year Perez has been affected by a tyre blow-out after suffering a failure in final practice and the race itself at Silverstone.

After that race Pirelli altered their tyres, marrying last season’s construction with this year’s compounds.

On this occasion, after a quick investigation in conjunction with McLaren, Hembery has been able to allay potential fears of likely problems mounting again.

“It was a big flat spot that put a huge hole right the way through the tread. There’s not a lot we can do about that one,” said Hembery.

“It was after 21 laps (on the set of tyres) so he (Perez) was at the end of the stint. That was the lap life – 20-22 laps, which meant he didn’t have a lot of compound left on the tyre.

“But he actually went beyond that as he he went through two or three layers of aramid (heat resistant fibres used in the structure of the tyre).

“It was a big lock up and he just burned this huge hole which lost air, and when tyres do that, all sorts of things can happen

“So we’ve absolutely no fears going forward. The structure we used now is what we have used for the last two years and there hasn’t been an issue.

“Of course, you will get racing incidents, but that’s life.”

But not for the first time this season, Pirelli has again come in for criticism of its tyres, with Fernando Alonso highly critical after qualifying on Saturday.

The Spaniard’s remarks resulted in a meeting ahead of the race between Hembery and Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber, though, has again expressed his concerns as he said: “The drivers aren’t super important, it is what other people want.

“The tyres are wearing a lot and they also explode a bit, but that is for Pirelli to sort out.

“Pirelli will also put the puncture of Perez down to a lock-up, but the reason the drivers are locking up is because there is no tread left.”

In response, Hembery said: “Their frustrations (those of Alonso and Webber) are no different to those of Michael (Schumacher) last year.

“It’s a different type of input. If you are having to manage the tyres and you don’t want to do that, then you have a different point of view.

“There’s nothing wrong with a different point of view, it’s just not what we have been asked to do.

“If we’d been asked for no degradation, one pit stop, then that is what we would have done.”

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