The blame no longer rests on Valtteri Bottas’s Sauber running over Alex Albon’s discarded mirror. Instead, the culprit remains elusive.  

The Qatar GP was a tyre punisher. The high-speed corners and relentless forces at Losail made the front left tyres the most stressed component on the grid. It was here that both Hamilton and Sainz fell victim, their front left tyres giving up the ghost within moments of each other.  

Initially, all eyes turned to Albon’s wayward mirror, shattered into shards by Bottas and strewn across the start-finish straight. But as more data poured in, it became evident that the tyres were already deflating before Bottas hit the debris.  

Simone Berra, Pirelli F1’s chief engineer, shared insights into the ongoing investigation. Speaking candidly, he explained that telemetry showed pressure loss occurring well before the tyres encountered the suspected debris.  

“Looking at the telemetry data, we noticed the pressure loss happened earlier in the lap,” said Berra. “The punctures occurred at other points on the circuit, perhaps due to debris elsewhere or other reasons.”  

The tyres, freshly returned to the Pirelli laboratory in Milan, are undergoing rigorous tests. The team is examining everything from cross-sectional cuts to sidewall integrity, fatigue resistance, and even residual life. 

“By the end of next week, or perhaps two weeks, we expect to have a comprehensive analysis,” Berra added, highlighting the meticulous nature of the process.  

So what exactly caused these failures? The Losail circuit, known for its demanding kerbs, could be a suspect. Or, perhaps, stray debris elsewhere on the track played a role.  

Berra acknowledged the stakes: “It’s important for the teams and for us to understand if it was debris or not. We’re delving deep into the details.”  

Mercedes, too, has been investigating. Andrew Shovlin, the team’s trackside engineering director, revealed that video evidence and live tyre pressure data suggest a different narrative.  

Teams, pushing tyres to their absolute limit due to minimal degradation, skirted close to 100% wear levels, and are essentially rolling the dice on durability.  

“We can see when the mirror was shattered, but Lewis’s pressure started dropping before Valtteri hit the debris,” Shovlin noted. “It’s unlikely to be a debris puncture, though we can’t rule out other track debris entirely.” 

Photo Credits: Formula One Content Pool

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