Aston Martin insists it followed Pirelli’s F1 tyre measures before Baku blowout

Stroll crashed out of fourth place on Lap 29 of the Azerbaijan GP when he suffered a dramatic left-rear tyre blowout, the first of two such incidents that overshadowed a crazy race in Baku.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen lost the lead of the race due to a similar scary failure at 200mph along the Baku’s long main straight.

F1’s tyre supplier Pirelli concluded its investigation and published its findings on Tuesday, saying that both tyres suffered “a circumferential break on the inner sidewall” that “related to the running conditions of the tyre”. 

Pirelli’s early theory that debris was to blame was ultimately incorrect, while the failures were also not caused by fatigue.

Red Bull issued a statement on Tuesday following the investigation in which it confirmed that “no car fault was found” and insisted that it followed Pirelli’s tyre parameters “at all times”.

On Wednesday, Aston Martin released a near-identical statement which read: "Following the tyre issue on Lance Stroll’s car on lap 29 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, we have worked with the FIA and Pirelli during their investigation.

"We can confirm there was no car fault that caused the tyre to fail.

"The team has always operated its tyres within the Pirelli prescribed parameters and will continue to do so."

Although Pirelli did not directly blame the teams for the incidents in Baku, the FIA has moved to impose a Technical Directive that will see new tyre measures imposed, starting from this weekend’s French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard.

As well as setting its usual minimum starting pressure, Pirelli will also set a minimum pressure for the tyres after running on track.

Random checks will be carried out on cars throughout the race weekend to ensure teams are adhering to all of the parameters.