Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton limped home with a punctured tire to win the 2020 British Grand Prix after running nearly 40 laps of the 52-lap race with the hard tire which, he says, Formula 1 tire supplier Pirelli told the team could go nearly the entire race distance.
But not only did Pirelli’s hard tire not last 40 laps on Hamilton’s car, it also did not last that distance on the cars of Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz – as well as, possibly, the Alpha Tauri car of Daniil Kvyat.
For their part, Pirelli says the failures suffered by three cars near the end of the British Grand Prix were caused by “extremely long use” on the demanding Silverstone circuit. Pirelli added that the tires had also been stressed by the increased speeds of the 2020 cars, which are approximately a second faster than last year’s cars.
With the expectation that teams will be taking multiple pit stops for tire changes to avoid last weekend’s scenario, Pirelli will be supplying softer tires for this weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone, but recommending increased minimum tire pressures “to reduce the stress”.