F1 | Qatar GP | Norris says he had no alert sign before suffering from “dangerous” front-left puncture
The McLaren driver lets know that he did not have any kind of warning before his tyre failed in late-race
The first Grand Prix of Qatar for Formula 1 has been though for drivers, as many cars did suffer from a tyre failure, everyone happened on the front-left wing. One of them has been Lando Norris. The McLaren driver had to pit at only eight laps from the end, as his tyre, he defined, “blew up”.
“I guess you don't expect the tyre to blow up, especially not on the hard tyre” – the Brit said to the written media in the post – race talk after the Grand Prix finished. The puncture has been even because it happened way before the tyres could wear out. “We weren't even that far into the stint, - he added – 20 laps or something, and the tyre should do a lot more than 20 laps. Every track, you look after the tyres because the tyres wear out a bit but you don't expect it to suddenly let go completely.”
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Norris pointed out how it has been completely unexpected, as he did not feel any kind of warning from the tyres, Latifi, another “victim” of these punctures, has given the same feedback. The Williams driver said to his engineer through a team radio that he did not feel the slightest vibration or any other usual sign that the tyre was about to explode. Norris called this behaviour “dangerous”: “[it was] quite dangerous for a lot of people today. It shouldn't happen.”
At this point, the media asked him whether he thought Pirelli should change something to prevent these incidents.
“No, it just shouldn't happen - he replied - If there's a wall there or something, it could've been a lot more dangerous. They should make the tyres better. It's dangerous for us as drivers. We risk a lot every time and if we can't just drive a Formula 1 car around the circuit, what can you do? I didn't even do a very long stint, 20 laps, 25 laps, whatever. I should still be able to drive the circuit.”
