Cut Tyres

[beelsebob]

So, Pirelli have repeatedly claimed that the tyre failures are due to cut tyres. Given that Vettel's engineers are saying that his tyre was indeed covered in cuts after his first pit stop, that seems to be true...

But...

The tyres were not being cut up all the time last year, nor the year before etc. And the curbs and g-forces etc all existed in past years. To me, this clearly indicates that there's an issue with the design of the current tyres which makes it very easily cut, or even which makes cuts naturally develop in it under certain kinds of stress.

This race has changed my opinion from "it's just punctures, which have occurred long before the blow up occurs", to "it is punctures... but those punctures are being caused by some design flaw in the tyre".

[Holm86]

Porsche super cup ran on Silverstone before the F1 GP. They run the curbs just as hard. And they didn't have troubles with cut tires.

Has to be a problem with the Pirelli's.

[gavingav1]

ever tighter bodywork and exhaust blowing cant be helping,if the Tyre is deforming under load, could be touching some part of the cars floor or those little wings attached to the rear brakes

[Goran2812]

ever tighter bodywork and exhaust blowing cant be helping,if the Tyre is deforming under load, could be touching some part of the cars floor or those little wings attached to the rear brakes

no way... the new sidewall has to be the problem. making the tire flex differently and making it's edges more exposed to stress and forces while riding curbs...

[beelsebob]

ever tighter bodywork and exhaust blowing cant be helping,if the Tyre is deforming under load, could be touching some part of the cars floor or those little wings attached to the rear brakes

What, all the teams suddenly made the exact same development that started cutting the tyres all in one year?

That doesn't sound likely as an answer to me.

[Just_a_fan]

Gary Anderson just showed the kerb on T4 and how sharp it is. Looks like if you got the tyre in just the wrong place on the apex then you were at risk of a cut tyre.

A sharp kerb isn't Pirelli's fault...

[beelsebob]

Gary Anderson just showed the kerb on T4 and how sharp it is. Looks like if you got the tyre in just the wrong place on the apex then you were at risk of a cut tyre.

A sharp kerb isn't Pirelli's fault...

As I said on the race thread – that kerb's been there for years, it's also not been cutting other formula's tyres. It's not an issue with the kerb.

[Tim.Wright]

Gary Anderson just showed the kerb on T4 and how sharp it is. Looks like if you got the tyre in just the wrong place on the apex then you were at risk of a cut tyre.

A sharp kerb isn't Pirelli's fault...

Tracks have curbs

The tyres need to be able to drive over curbs

Like they have been doing for the past 60+ years in F1

[bhall]

What, all the teams suddenly made the exact same development that started cutting the tyres all in one year?

That doesn't sound likely as an answer to me.

No, but the tires this year have more flexible sidewalls, and an unloaded tire, such as the left-rear in left-hand corner for instance, could deform to such a degree that it comes into contact with the floor of the car. The tolerances in that area are very small.

It's not an implausible scenario.

[gavingav1]

Nice picture to illustrate my point -car designers are pushing the limits to far ,running tyres under pressure and the tyres are deforming too much ,thats why after the punctures at silverstone they upped the tire pressures and continued to ride the kerbs without problems

[beelsebob]

Nice picture to illustrate my point -car designers are pushing the limits to far ,running tyres under pressure and the tyres are deforming too much ,thats why after the punctures at silverstone they upped the tire pressures and continued to ride the kerbs without problems

Right, Perez didn't have a problem with 12 laps to go. Wait...

[turbof1]

If the floor was cutting the tyre, then we would have it much more often, and we would certainly have seen certain teams remarkably not having any problems with it. Furthermore, if that was the case we would have had Pirelli inmediately pointing at it. I see no indication whatsoever that the floor is cutting the tyre. Teams would have noticed that very early in the pre season, left alone at the start of the season.

That specific curb is obviously the point where it is most likely to happen: high speed corner, sharper edge,... . The tyres would get the biggest loads to deal with there. However, that still does not mean the curb is the cause. Cars have been driving over there very agressively since years. I can't remember a single case that that curb initiated a deflation of a tyre. This is more due to Pirelli who designed too weak tyres. They are probably very right to point out the delamination are caused in most cases by a cut in the tyre, but they very conviently forget the important question: was the situation bad enough to justify a cut?

[Jonnycraig]

Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes & Toro Rosso just don't understand the tyres..

[ScottB]

It does seem likely that it was the kerb at turn 4 causing the issue, however as others have rightly pointed out, unless this kerb is brand new this year, it hasn't happened before. So whether it is a mixture of the teams pushing things too far, a problem with the tyres or all of it, something needs to be done.

Hopefully a balance can be struck between a tyre that degrades too much too soon, and the boring, never degrading Bridgestones.

[myurr]

Massa's tyre also deflated before he reached that kerb. I'd be surprised if he cut it there on the previous lap and then it failed at the exact same point a lap later.