Adam Cooper F1

Pirelli motor sport boss Paul Hembery is adamant that Sebastian Vettel’s tyre failure in the Belgian GP was a result of wear after Ferrari ran a single-stop stop strategy.

Ferrari has denied that it took any risks by trying to run 29 laps from Vettel’s lap 14 stop to the flag, but Hembery said it the issue was clear.

“Rosberg was an external cut, this was pure wear,” he said. “If you look at the images, the carcass was still intact so it was a wear issue, the second one on Friday was a cut.

“Actually it is the front tyre that gets hurt the most, that is the one you tend to be worried about here. Friday was a cut, and in this case it was wear. The tyre was finished.”

Hembery said Pirelli didn’t expect teams to run such a long stint.

“He did 28 laps. It is more we thought the strategy was going to be based on two or three stops, which you saw the majority did. They felt clearly that they could make it work on a one-stop and the wear life was indicated at 40 laps – and race conditions can change that. Some factors involved in racing mean that is not precise data. Other teams were clearly taking a different direction.

Regarding Vettel’s reaction he said: “You can always understand a drivers’ reaction when they get hot out of the car. I am not going to say anything negative about that. With time you have a chat, but that is normal.

He added: “It is perfectly easy to say at the end of the race with hindsight. If the race had been one lap less he would have been on the podium and said what a genius move! That is tough.”

Sebastian Vettel was keen to speak his mind when he faced TV cameras just a few minutes after a spectacular tyre failure robbed him of third place at Spa.

Vettel retired less than two laps from the flag after suffering a failure of the right rear, as experienced by Nico Rosberg on Friday.

The German denied that he and Ferrari had pushed the Pirellis too hard by trying to get from lap 14 to the finish at lap 43.

“How many laps I was missing, not many?,” he said. “Things like that are not allowed to happen, full stop. If it happened 200 metres earlier, I’m not standing here now, I’m with 300 [km/h] stuck in Eau Rouge. I don’t know what else needs to happen.

“I tell you what is upsetting, one thing is the result. This is racing. For sure we deserved to finish on the podium. The other thing as I said is if this happens earlier… I think it’s a sort of theme that’s going around, nobody’s mentioning, but it’s unacceptable.”

Vettel talked to the FIA about tyres in Friday afternoon’s drivers’ briefing, soon after the Rosberg failure. Asked if his view was taken seriously he said: “I think it was. But what’s the answer? Same as every time, there was a cut, debris, maybe something wrong with the bodywork, the driver went wide. Bullshit. If Nico tells us that he didn’t go off the track, he didn’t go off the track. Same with me, I didn’t go off the track, it’s just out of the blue, the tyre explodes. As I said if this happens earlier, then #####.”

Vettel said that the drivers should talk about the issue.

“I think we need to speak to each other. It’s probably not as bad as it was in Silverstone some years ago, but it’s not acceptable.”

Romain Grosjean’s popular third place in Spa was the first podium earned by the Frenchman and his Lotus team since the 2013 US GP.

The result also came three years after his infamous first lap crash at Spa.

“I remember Austin,” he said today. “A long time ago, but I still remember I was a bit drunk at the press conference! A little bit too much champagne on the podium with Seb. It has been up and down here for me. Of course Spa 2012 with Lewis was a bit of a tough time, but on the other side it’s helped me because who I am today and being able to be on the podium with how we are during the weekend shows how strong our guys, and how strong we’re capable of building a car and be there. It was a great race, I enjoyed every minute and if we can do it again, let’s go.”

Although he ultimately earned it after Sebastian Vettel had a puncture right in front of him Grosjean had been pushing the German hard in the closing laps.

“I was really closing the gap on Seb,” he explained. “It’s very unfortunate he had that puncture and it was a bit of a scary moment just being behind. I think we got everything we could get today, starting from P4 on the grid I’m sure we would have had a much easier race but it was really good fun. All the overtaking into Turn Five, I was really taking it as hard as I could on brake. Probably one of my best races ever.”

Like several of his rivals Grosjean pitted under the Virtual Safety Car.

“I went through Eau Rouge on that lap and they just told me on the radio ‘safety car window is open’ and I did finish the lap, and ‘safety car’ came up on the steering wheel and we pitted as planned. We needed to fit the prime tyre for the end of the race. I think then I lost a position to Seb, they stayed on the one-stop strategy which was quite aggressive and we didn’t think we’d be able to do it. I knew the safety car window was open, and if the safety car, the virtual safety car, was lasting long enough for me to rejoin the pit or get in the pit before it ended, it was the strategy for me to stop.”

Grosjean said that he didn’t get extra motivation from the situation surrounding Lotus.

“I think, as a racing driver in general, every time we start a race the idea is to try to win it. You know what you have in your hands and you know that sometimes it is not possible but as long as you do everything with 100 per cent of your performance you can fly home in the evening being proud of what you did. That’s what I want to achieve.

“Sometimes there’s been times in the past year where you score one point or two points and it has been an incredible performance, probably you can’t see it on TV because it’s hidden by the fact that the car is not as good – but every time I just in the car it’s to give my best. It’s cost me a little bit in the past but putting things in the right order makes it good today.”

Regarding the next race he said: “I think Monza is a big difference in a way that there are special aero packages for Monza and it’s one race out of 19 where it’s always difficult to know exactly what’s going to be there. I’m sure in term of pole everything is going to be under control. Hopefully is working as well as it is today but I think right now I’m just thinking about having a good drink tonight!”

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner insists that he is still waiting to find out what Renault’s plans are for 2016 and beyond, despite strong suggestions that RBR has already made the first move to end its relationship with the French manufacturer.

Paddock sources have indicated that Red Bull has sent a formal notice of termination to Renault, a move that would seem to indicate that the management is confident that it already has an alternative deal lined up with Mercedes.

The issue is further complicated by the necessity to sort out an alternative supply for Toro Rosso as well.

“All I can tell you is that we’ve got a contract with Renault that goes to the conclusion of 2016, and that’s our situation,” said Horner today. “We’re waiting to hear what Renault’s plans and commitments are longer term, and I guess once we understand that then we’ll be able to make decisions accordingly regarding our future.”

Horner would not elaborate on suggestions that Renault has not met performance clauses in its contract with RBR, and that gives the team a way to get out of the deal.

“The contents of any agreement between the parties are confidential, but as is standard in any competitive contract, or supply contract, there’s obligation from both sides. Those obligations are quite clear between the two parties.”

He insisted that the potential status of Lotus as a works team, when RBR has previously been announced in that role, was not necessarily the key issue.

“Not really. We just want to know what Renault’s commitment is. Whatever they do, they need to have a competitive engine, unless they stop. For us, we just want to understand what the position of Renault is. We’ve enjoyed some very competitive years with Renault, we’ve won eight World Championships together, 50 Grands Prix, and let’s see what the future holds.

“Renault had four teams last year. Lotus left because they didn’t want to be with Renault, and the other team went bust. So we ended up as two teams by default. Renault have run with four teams previously, so the bottom line is the product has got to be competitive, whether it’s one two or four teams.”

Horner acknowledged that the team needs to know sooner rather than later what power unit it will be running next year.

“Of course an engine is an integral part of the car, and as the concept is being born you want the engine to be a part of that. You also have situations like Ross Brawn had in 2009, when he probably didn’t find out until November or December what engine he was going to have for that season. And then of course compromises inevitably have to be made.

“It’s not something that we’ve given a huge amount of thought to at the moment, because we do have an agreement with Renault until the end of next year, and our assumption at the moment is that we will have a Renault engine in the car next year.”

Pirelli believes that Nico Rosberg’s spectacular tyre failure in FP2 at Spa resulted from a cut caused by an external source, and was not due any fault in the tyre itself.

Rosberg was lucky to avoid contact with the barriers after the high-speed failure.

Investigations continued through the night, and the company’s engineers plan to check the track to see if they can identify a kerb or other potential cause of a cut. Pirelli has checked other tyres that were used on Friday, and has not found any indication of further problems.

“We have no evidence of any weakness in the tyre or its structure,” a Pirelli spokesman told this writer. “And we very much think that everything came from a cut coming from an external source. It’s nearly impossible to find from where exactly. We also inspecting the whole track, as has been done some times in the past, to see if there is any kerb or any metal part, or so on.

“We didn’t have any indication either before or during FP2 of something strange. We want to have a final result by tomorrow morning, and we’ll be all night working. But there is no sign of fatigue of the tyre or any special stress or special weakness.”

The spectacular tyre failure for Nico Rosberg in FP2 at Spa has put the spotlight firmly on Pirelli, and the incident came shortly after the FIA warned F1 teams that there will be strict checks to ensure that parameters set by Pirelli are being respected.

Charlie Whiting sent out a Technical Directive after today’s FP1 session in which he underlined that the checks were related to safety.

While there is no suggestion that Rosberg’s Mercedes was running outside any of the prescribed parameters the timing of the TD appeared to imply that Pirelli had faced some concerns after this morning’s FP1 session. There has been controversy at Spa in past years, notably related to cambers.

However, a Pirelli spokesman told this writer that the TD was a result of a routine meeting yesterday, and that nothing untoward was spotted in FP1 today. It’s understood that what was in effect a reminder to follow Pirelli guidelines was a response to the FIA noting some unusually high tyre blanket temperatures in Hungary. Today’s note was a copy of one issued in Budapest in 2013. 

The TD said: “Once again we have been asked by Pirelli, for reasons of safety, to ensure that all tyres are used as laid out in ’15R11SPA Preview,’ circulated to all teams on 28 July, checks on the following parameters will made randomly.”

Whiting went on to clarify that the parameters that will be checked were minimum starting pressure front and rear, maximum negative EOS camber front and rear, left to right swapping of the tyres both front and rear (which was an issue a couple of seasons ago), and respect of the tyre blanket strategies.

He added that the checks would also be carried out at future events, and until further notice.