Aston Martin also confirms it followed Pirelli’s tyre restrictions before crash

2021 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by

Aston Martin has joined Red Bull in insisting it complied with Pirelli’s restrictions on tyre use prior to the crash which eliminated one of its cars from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Lance Stroll crashed out on lap 29 of the race following a failure of his left-rear tyre. Max Verstappen’s race was ended by similar failure 16 laps later.

Yesterday Pirelli stated that, following an inspection of both drivers’ tyres and other samples taken from the race weekend, it had “clearly identified” the causes of the failures. It said the tyres had not failed due to production problems or fatigue and that both teams had followed “the prescribed starting parameters” it specified for minimum pressure and blanket temperatures.

However it also noted a revised technical directive will come into force this weekend specifying new parameters teams must obey. As RaceFans reported yesterday, these restrictions specify how tyre pressures and blanket temperatures will be checked during sessions, including new cold pressure checks of the tyres.

Following yesterday’s announcement Red Bull affirmed they had “adhered to Pirelli’s tyre parameters at all times”. Aston Martin has issued a similar statement today.

“Following the tyre issue on Lance Stroll’s car on lap 29 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, we have worked with the FIA and Pirelli during their investigation,” the team said.

“We can confirm there was no car fault that caused the tyre to fail.

“The team has always operated its tyres within the Pirelli prescribed parameters and will continue to do so.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2021 F1 season

Browse all 2021 F1 season articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

14 comments on “Aston Martin also confirms it followed Pirelli’s tyre restrictions before crash”

  1. The level of which Pirelli denies its responsibility is alarming. I wouldnt want such a company as a partner. Liberty and FIA must act

    1. RandomMallard (@)
      16th June 2021, 13:14

      No one else has been interested in taking the contract on. I’m not a fully qualified expert in tyres but I believe they are quite important.

        1. RandomMallard (@)
          16th June 2021, 14:10

          Oh sorry this is my bad. I was unaware that they had competition from Hankook at the most recent renewal. However, when we have people crying out for Michelin and Bridgestone (not the original comment here, but plenty of other people have been), they need to be interested in entering the sport themselves. Michelin didn’t bid for the 2020-23 contract because of the requirement for high deg tires.

          1. RandomMallard (@)
            16th June 2021, 14:14

            Although as @dieterrencken pointed out in 2018, Hankook were not particularly willing to talk about their F1 ambitions. Which makes me think it might have just been an attempt to get free publicity.

          2. @randommallard There was also that awkwardness of them having to make 13” tires for one year. But I think what is also key is that along with Michelin not wanting to make degrady tires (of course they always degrade but we’re taking about degrees and how they degrade), Michelin also wants a tire competition in F1. If Michelin were the only maker, and they made the tires they want which would allow drivers to race on and would not be the overwhelming story of F1, then tires would barely get a mention, and there would be little marketing impact for them to be in F1. Add a competitor and they can go ahead and make proper tires as would the competitor have to, and tires will get talked about all the time as to which driver/team is on which maker’s tires. The only way it is worth it for a sole maker to be in F1 is if that maker makes tires that are a headache and therefore get talked about and therefore provide a marketing impact.

    2. Coventry Climax
      16th June 2021, 14:23

      The level at which the FIA backs them, is alarming, as is the level at which Liberty just cares about the money coming in.
      Don’t expect either to act.

    3. At the same time, the way both these teams and Pirelli explicitly confirm which guidelines they DID follow to the letter in combination with the new guidelines on what will be checked when and how for the future does point to these teams (and probably others) doing their best to circumvent the minimum pressure guidance where they can do so without being directly in conflict with them.

  2. Bwhahaha I wonder if Pirelli wants to create drama in the sport…

  3. It’s quite evident that some teams are running their tyres not always within the parameters set by the constructor regardless these statements (rumors say 5 out of 10 teams. RB and Aston Martin for sure, they didn’t mention the other three teams but you can bet at least on one…). We’ll see who will be most affected by the outcome of the new TD in France very soon…

    1. Indeed Bio. The careful and precise wording does point quite clearly to what is going on.

      1. Although I do wonder if it is just to the limits of the allowable tolerances, for after all no team will want to go so rogue that they definitely will have a failure. Surely they must be heeding Pirelli’s parameters quite closely and not straying too far, for legality reasons as well as assurances of finishing races.

    2. Steven Van Langendonck
      17th June 2021, 11:49

      Well it’s F1. What did you expect?
      But in my view Pirelli and the FIA should make sure that the rules are airtight (pun!)

      All that aside, the tightening of the rules should be about making sure no-one is cheating and not about safety. That should have been taken care of by Pirelli as a matter of top priority.

  4. Tyre Wars. Please!!! How I miss those Michelins

Comments are closed.