The Beeb's Gary Anderson may have hit upon something in his after race analysis

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23118588

 

I honestly didn't envy any of those drivers yesterday. The amount of nerves it must have caused not knowing if your tyre would blow out at speed, or if that car you're going for a pass on or who's passing you could suddenly it's mind boggling they carried on.

And Hamilton fighting back up to fourth has got to be the best drive of the year so far.

I really hope something is done in time for Spa as I'd hate to see one of the best races of the season ruined ala 2005.

I can't see Pirelli sticking around in F1. A smart person may realise those tyres are no more real world relevant than the Redbull breaking down yesterday is to the quality of their energy drink but who would honestly want to advertise their brand on something that gets so much flack.

 

and also what Philip says.

Are any regs about kerb height though? At what looks like 50mil or so high that sharp edge is above the tread part of the tyre and would certainly make a mess. Looks like a botched job of widening the kerb and they couldn't be arsed to dig up and re-seat the main kerb blocks but just stuck some concrete there - too low - and painted it green.

I remember reversing* out of the wrong lane at a péage near Caen in my first S and a protruding metal stake gouging a hole in the rear off-side outer tyre wall. The rest of the holiday was completed with gunge and frequent air top-ups as I couldn't face swapping front/back wheels and limping along on the run-flat spare. We never found S02s anywhere in France.


*Actually SWMBO was driving. A cunning ploy to ensure the rest of the holiday was at or below speed limits?

 

Interesting, but why were there no similar failures in the GP2 or GP3 (or many other races) that took place over the weekend?

 

Was there any suggestion these kerbs were new for this year? I imagine everywhere with saw toothed kerbs must have a similar edge, and of course these would have been inspected by the FIA and probably the teams and drivers too.

 

Since 2009 from what I've read. Since then the tyres have got softer and the cars even higher down force. The problem is the weather limited testing and race day was hotter than any of the runs they had.

 

The problem is the drivers flouting the rules that say that the race track is delineated by the white lines. Nowhere as far as I know do the rules say that driving over the kerbs is allowed.
Stop driving over kerbs, simples.

 

That's assuming it was the kerbs, which is pretty unlikely.

 

The evidence is circumstantial but the theory is reasonable. Lts wait for the results of the investigation.

 

The reg's say that you must not leave the track.

The track limits are marked as you say by white lines (kerbs are not considered part of the track)

"A driver will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with the track."

So by riding the kerbs they are not technically leaving the track...if they wanted to they could drive around the track half-on half-off.