Pirelli not at fault for Kvyat British GP smash

AlphaTauri

Pirelli not at fault for Kvyat British GP smash

Cause highlighted as "a separate mechanical issue"

Ian Parkes

Thursday 6 August 2020 18:57

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Pirelli has absolved itself of blame for Daniil Kvyat's crash during the British Grand Prix which was caused by "a separate mechanical issue".

AlphaTauri driver Kvyat was forced off the track at high-speed on the approach to Maggotts, and although he initially berated himself in the immediate aftermath of the smash, a rear-facing camera showed there was rapid delamination of the right-rear tyre.

Pirelli, though, has since concluded an investigation into the incident and discovered the cause was not one of their making, unlike those that occurred in the closing laps to Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, along with McLaren's Carlos Sainz.

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A Pirelli statement read: "Together with Scuderia AlphaTauri, Pirelli has concluded an investigation into the precise cause of the incident that resulted in Daniil Kvyat hitting the wall during the British Grand Prix on lap 12.

"A separate mechanical issue led to the inside of the right-rear wheel rim overheating, which in turn burned the bead of the tyre (the part of the tyre that connects the rubber to the wheel).

"As a result, the bead was no longer able to seal the tyre onto the rim. This is what caused the subsequent deflation, with the tyre itself playing no part in the cause of the accident."

Kvyat has accepted he was nothing more than a passenger in the accident.

"Looking back at it there was nothing really to do, but I had a problem on my gearbox and I was doing a lot of switches at that moment," revealed the Russian.

"I was doing [this] all lap. Two or three laps until then I was doing so many changes and in the moment I was looking at the screen when the tyre gave up, when there was a puncture.

“I didn’t really understand what happened. It was so weird and confusing and it has never happened before in my career that the tyre would give up in such a high-speed corner.

“The first thing I thought was maybe there was some kind of kerb or grass I don’t know [about], but of course looking back at it, there was absolutely nothing I could have done.”

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