Pirelli explain cause of Verstappen Imola blowout

Pirelli Formula 1 boss Mario Isola has explained cuts on Max Verstappen's right-rear tyre in Imola were to blame for the Dutchman's dramatic retirement from the race.

Verstappen had been running second in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix before his tyre let go on lap 51, pitching the Red Bull driver into a spin and consequently bringing about his retirement.

"We made and investigation on the tyre and the part of the tyre that we have been able to collect," said Isola. "We found some cuts on the tread and the sidewall, both inside and outside.

"We believe that the reason for the failure was the damage on the centre of the tread that caused the damage on both the belts and the carcass plies, so the belts started to detach following this damage and at a certain point, when the carcass was not able to keep the load, we had the deflation that everybody saw on television."

The Pirelli tyres have often been a talking point of grands prix weekends in recent times, no more so than at the British Grand Prix when race winner Lewis Hamilton crossed the line with only three functioning tyres after team-mate Valtteri Bottas and McLaren driver Carlos Sainz also suffered similar failures.

Acknowledging the less than simple task of analysing the cause of a failure on such a heavily damaged carcass, Isola added: "We shared this analysis with also the FIA and the team and the evidence that we have.

"Obviously, it is difficult to analyse a tyre that is in pieces but we sent immediately the tyre back from Imola to our laboratories in Milan and we did an investigation as a priority."

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