Hamilton: Pirelli not to blame for Baku F1 tyre blowouts

Pirelli concluded its investigation into high-speed failures for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll last week, revealing they related to “running conditions”.

A move from the FIA to increase tyre pressure and temperature checks ahead of this weekend’s French Grand Prix has led to suggestions that teams could have been using clever tricks to get around Pirelli’s mandatory parameters.

While Verstappen insisted Red Bull had done nothing wrong, Hamilton appeared to indicate that the teams were ultimately at fault.

“Wherever there is a failure, they always put the pressures up, so that tells you something,” Hamilton said.

“More often than not the tyres are not running at the pressures that are being asked. We didn’t have a problem with our tyres, I think they’ve done a great job with the tyres this year, they’re more robust than before.

“In this particular instance, I don’t think Pirelli are at fault.”

Hamilton stressed he is confident in the integrity of the 2021 tyres despite the dramas encountered in Baku last time out and said Mercedes will continue to adhere to Pirelli’s prescriptions.

“At the end of the day safety is always the priority,” he added. “And for me and for my team there have been clear rules and guidelines as to where we have to operate.

“So I was very surprised, naturally, to see they had to clarify those… which obviously you can take what you want from that.

“I’m happy that they have acknowledged that they need to clarify it, and I think what’s really important from now is how they police it, as they’ve not been policing how the tyres are being used, tyre pressures, tyre temperatures, and we need to do better.

“It’s great they’ve done a TD, but it’s the action now we need to see them follow through, and be really vigilant, to make sure it’s equal across the field.”