Vettel's Flat Tyre

[cosworth151]

It's about half an hour after the race. On the BBC, they are speculating that Vettel's first lap tire failure was due to the tire rubbing on the undertray of his Red Bull. The RBR mechanics were looking at that area quite closely.

Eddie Jordan thinks that the tire's bead came off the wheel.

The team is saying that it was an "instantaneous loss of pressure." That would seem to rule out a puncture.

I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this in the coming days.

[Jugirl]

That was really unfortunate for Vettel (and for my GG Grrr)


It was horrible to see Bernie all over him in the garage though and in his face. Not a great fan on Vettel but that is the last thing you would want

Ju

[John S]

The sudden deflation does make it look more like the tyre coming completely off the rim. The first discussions amongst the commentators was about the tyre popping off the rim caused by running too deep on the kerb, the tyre pressure being below Pirelli's recommended minimum at the start of a race and the weight from full tanks adding to the impact shock.

I presume a slicing action from the undertray could cause massive failure, but I'm sure some of the beading, if not all, would have remained on the rim. If the beadings were still mostly intact this may be the answer. 

I think both Pirelli and RBR would like to be able to blame the other, but don't yet have the evidence to substantiate what really happened.

[Philbe]

I can see from RBR's standpoint (and Pirelli) that would want to make sure the failure was not caused by a mechanical failure (of the bead or rubbing) but holy cow...suck it up buttercup...your WDC and Constructors Champ....brown stuff happens...move on.

[Scott]

I can see from RBR's standpoint (and Pirelli) that would want to make sure the failure was not caused by a mechanical failure (of the bead or rubbing) but holy cow...suck it up buttercup...your WDC and Constructors Champ....brown stuff happens...move on.

'xactly 

[David]

I can see from RBR's standpoint (and Pirelli) that would want to make sure the failure was not caused by a mechanical failure (of the bead or rubbing) but holy cow...suck it up buttercup...your WDC and Constructors Champ....brown stuff happens...move on.

Yup, well said Phil. 

[Jericoke]

I'd chalk it up to RBR setting up the car to run on the 'ragged edge', and they're lucky they haven't gone over the edge more often.

Perhaps this was a form of testing for next year, seeing how far the tires can be pushed?  I'd imagine Vettel is trying to win the last two races of the season by epic margins (did you see how far ahead he already was!?), and was happy to go along with the risk, maybe even encouraging it.

[John S]

I'd chalk it up to RBR setting up the car to run on the 'ragged edge', and they're lucky they haven't gone over the edge more often.

Perhaps this was a form of testing for next year, seeing how far the tires can be pushed?  I'd imagine Vettel is trying to win the last two races of the season by epic margins (did you see how far ahead he already was!?),

Maybe that rocket speed into the first corner helped push him just that bit too far over the kerbs, all the others were slower for the simple reason they didn't want to risk everything by running too hot into the first turn.

Vettel did seem a bit too keen to open a gap, I think he felt more under pressure from the pack than at the previous races.



 

[lkjohnson1950]

The RB7 is notoriously slow on the straight because of the down force that makes it so quick through the turns. Vettel worries that if the McLarens are still close enough to him when they can use the DRS, they will pass easily. So he tries to open that 1 second gap as quickly as he can. I also think it's quite possible RB is pushing to see how far they can go. It could have happened in Q3!!

[Monty]

Bit late on this debate (work keeps getting in the way).
We know RBR run very low tyre pressures (some people even argued that low tyre pressures was one of the ways that RBR got the front wing to settle so low and give better downforce).
I think the cold tyres made the tyre pressures even lower and then Vettel over-cooked the corner and ran the inside of the tyre against the kerb for quite a few metres. My guess is that as he dragged the car back onto the track the inside tyre wall cried 'enough!' causing the instant deflation and doing enough damage that the carcass couldn't stay on the rim.

[cosworth151]

Pirelli is now hinting that the underside exhaust might be overheating the tires.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96257

[lkjohnson1950]

RB has a warm up procedure that apparently must be very carefully completed. And in this race it went wrong, which may have overheated the tires. Since RB isn't talking, there have been all kinds of rumors, but this one sounds plausible. Vettel went to turn 1 after the race to see if there was something about the curb that could have damaged the tire.

[Jericoke]

RB has a warm up procedure that apparently must be very carefully completed. And in this race it went wrong, which may have overheated the tires. Since RB isn't talking, there have been all kinds of rumors, but this one sounds plausible. Vettel went to turn 1 after the race to see if there was something about the curb that could have damaged the tire.

If the RBR has a complicated warm up procedure, that might explain Webber's poor starts as well.

[John S]

RB has a warm up procedure that apparently must be very carefully completed. And in this race it went wrong, which may have overheated the tires. Since RB isn't talking, there have been all kinds of rumors, but this one sounds plausible. Vettel went to turn 1 after the race to see if there was something about the curb that could have damaged the tire.

If the RBR has a complicated warm up procedure, that might explain Webber's poor starts as well.

Like the procedure is so complicated they can only do one at a time and Mark's sequence is never complete when the lights go out, eh Jeri? 



 

[lkjohnson1950]

It probably has to do with bringing all the components around the engine/exhaust up to temperature gradually. If something got too hot too fast, it may have damaged the tire. Vettel was said to be genuinely confused and looking for answers.