P1racenews AI automatic summary:
The key questions surrounding F1’s Qatar GP tyre drama
experiencing the same kind of catastrophic failures as last year’s 13-inch tyres.The tyre problem in Qatar is specific to the construction of the tyre sidewall, where a small separation occurred between the carcass chord and the topping compound.This separation is caused by the repeated impact of running over the high kerbs at the Losail circuit, particularly in the high-speed Turn 12-13 section.The time and speed spent on the kerbs, combined with the harshness of their edges and the frequency of contact with the tyres, contribute to the tyre damage.This is a new issue that hasn’t been encountered before, and Pirelli informed the FIA about it after discovering the problem in their analysis of sets used in FP1.This is not a repeat of the tyre failures from 2021, as the current 18-inch tyres have a different construction and are not experiencing the same catastrophic failures as the previous 13-inch tyres.
Source: motorsport