Sebastian Vettel: ‘Concerning’ tyre blowouts could have gone “massively wrong”

Verstappen, Red Bull, Azerbaijan — Photo: © LAT Images

Azerbaijan Gand Prix

Vettel: ‘Concerning’ tyre blowouts could have gone “massively wrong”

Four-time champion calls for answers after Stroll and Verstappen tyre failures

Will Gray

Wednesday 9 June 2021 17:13

Sebastian Vettel was “concerned” by the two high-speed tyre blowouts that happened during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and called for an investigation into the reasons to avoid something going “massively wrong” in future.

Vettel’s Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll was pitched into the wall partway through the race when his rear tyre failed and race leader Max Verstappen suffered a similar incident in the closing stages.

Four-time champion Vettel was not worried by Stroll’s incident, as he had fresher tyres, but revealed he was relieved when the race was red flagged to allow all the teams to fit new tyres for the final three laps.

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“When Max had the same issue, it was quite clear that… who’s next? That sort of thing.,” he said. “This is not supposed to happen, so I think there needs to be a bit of an investigate because it’s probably the worst place of the year to have this.

“It could go massively wrong if you get it wrong so close to also to pit entry, to the wall. We are doing well over 300kph. I was a bit concerned but then with the red flag then I knew we’re all fitting different tyres and it should be fine.”

Perez: Failure is “pretty extreme”

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who went on to win the race, said the incidents must be investigated because “the speeds and getting a failure there it’s something pretty extreme.”

He said: “Luckily nothing happened today but it’s something that has to be reviewed and make sure that we understand what’s going on.”

Third placed finisher Pierre Galsly added: “I guess [Vettel and Perez] are a bit more worried because their two teammates had the issues compared to me. I wasn’t too concerned.

“But clearly, in terms of safety, both incidents, I think Lance it happened at 270/280kph and for Max over 300kph and at that speed you don’t want to have this kind of failure.

“I’m really glad both of them came out of the car OK but we need to understand exactly what happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again in the future. It’s never nice to see that.”