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Tyre blowouts are not just about tyres, but a dereliction of duty

It is perhaps one of sport’s greatest ironies that while Sebastian Vettel is a three-time world champion, he has never won the German Grand Prix — his home race — in his six years in Formula 1.

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa entering the pit with a puncture during the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone  race circuit last Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa entering the pit with a puncture during the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone race circuit last Sunday. Photo: Reuters

It is perhaps one of sport’s greatest ironies that while Sebastian Vettel is a three-time world champion, he has never won the German Grand Prix — his home race — in his six years in Formula 1.

This statistic became even more pronounced over the last three years because, despite his domination of the field and drivers’ championship, victory in Germany always eluded the 26-year-old. His best result to date was finishing third in 2010.

With this year’s title race heating up after double world champion Fernando Alonso slashed the Red Bull driver’s lead to 21 points, tomorrow’s battle in Nurburgring will surely be a nail-biting one.

But it was almost off the cards.

Chunks of rubber, metal and debris from a disintegrating tyre of Sergio Perez’s McLaren during last weekend’s race at Silverstone nearly hit Alonso at high speed, whizzing past his head by centimetres.

Had they hit the Spaniard, the Ferrari driver would have been severely injured and could have even been killed.

The close shave was the last and most dangerous of explosive tyre incidents that hit four cars, including Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne, at Silverstone.

It was eerily reminiscent of the 2005 Indianapolis race in the United States, when Ralf Schumacher was injured after crashing his Toyota, following a tyre blowout during practice.

The incident resulted in seven teams supplied by French rubber manufacturers Michelin boycotting the race.

Now, drivers are threatening to do the same at Nurburgring at the slightest sign of tyre trouble.

In the aftermath of Silverstone, Pirelli investigated its product failures in England and issued its findings two days later.

In a nutshell, the Italian company said teams swapped their rear tyres from right to left and vice versa during qualifying and race day when tyre designs this year specifically do not allow for such a practice.

A second fault lies in tyres being filled at air levels below what was recommended, while a third was that of teams tilting the wheels, a move called camber angles, at an extreme incline against the chassis of the cars.

These traditional practices, although they worked against the design nature of the Pirellis this time, were intended to give the Formula 1 cars better performance.

And they did, because teams have been doing just this since last winter and through much of this season, especially in Monaco, and not without the knowledge of their Italian suppliers.

It all unravelled at the high-speed circuit of Silverstone, which punished the tyres far more than previous race venues.

But there was a lot of finger-pointing after last Sunday and, in the interest of keeping the peace, Pirelli was forced to pipe down and withdraw any blame on its customers in the paddock.

The truth is, except the drivers, there were no untainted hands in this ongoing debacle.

At the heart of the matter, it is not really about tyres.

It is about dereliction of duty on the part of both suppliers and teams, whose only tool in a high-technology sport such as Formula 1 must always be precision.

Instead, the unnecessary risks they gambled on almost took the life of Alonso. As such, their calls for driver safety run shallow.

The last driver to die in a race was the legendary triple champion Ayrton Senna at Imola, Italy, in 1994.

Improvements to driver safety have made a quantum leap since then, but it seems Formula 1 has fallen into a slumber and needs to be shaken up head to toe.

Whether a boycott materialises tomorrow or not, teams, Pirelli, world governing body FIA and Formula 1 must ask where they have been lacking and remiss in the interest of drivers, who risk life and limb for motor sports.

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