Just days after the drivers' union - the Grand Prix Drivers' Association - expressed its unease with the tyre failures suffered by Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg in Belgium, drivers have been warned that in future they are not to express their concerns in public.

In the wake of his penultimate lap failure, Vettel launched a scathing attack on Pirelli, saying such failures must not be allowed to continue. Other drivers, including Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, echoed his thoughts, which in time led to the GPDA wading in.

"As drivers, we strongly believe the end of a tyre's performance window can and should not be a tyre delamination in the form of an explosion," GPDA president Alex Wurz told BBC Sport.

"There are technologies which prevent such sudden delamination," he continued, "but for the short term we need to give Pirelli the freedom and support to introduce any measures they declare safe and fit for F1 racing. We request their utmost attention to the tyre blow-outs at Spa. We need to work together to get on top of such safety concerns."

Yesterday, Pirelli issued the results of its investigation in to Vettel's failure, the Italian manufacturer claiming that his tyre was damaged by track debris. At the same time the company called on the FIA to consider limiting mileage.

At the subsequent drivers' press conference, which was attended by both Vettel and Rosberg, the post-Spa anger had clearly subsided indeed, the drivers appeared reluctant to even discuss the matter, far less voice any fears for the coming weekend on the superfast Monza tarmac.

Today however, Bernie Ecclestone, having yesterday made the rare move of issuing a statement on the issue, in which he threw his support fully behind Pirelli, held a meeting with Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, as well as Christian Horner, Toto Wolff and Maurizio Arrivabene.

Speaking after the meeting, Ecclestone admitted that the drivers had been told that in future any criticism they felt concerning the tyres - and presumably anything else - should be made well away from the media.

"If you sell me something, and it doesn’t work, I complain to the person I bought it from, I don’t complain outside," he told {i]Motorsport.com. "I want them to think, and if any of them have got problems, they should talk to the people that are making the problems. That’s all. They understand."

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the matter, if the drivers genuinely believe their lives are threatened, be it tyres or any other aspect of their job, they are duty bound to complain, especially at a time the sport is in mourning yet again following the death of a colleague.

Sadly, this gagging of the drivers pretty much sums up the current state of the sport, and confirms that the powers-that-be will continue to run it with a rod of iron, no matter what those putting their lives on the line, far less the fans, might think.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Nortim, 05/09/2015 16:23

"I hope Hamilton want get 100 places grid penalty for changing hair color, because BE might be seeing that as some kind sign of hidden protest against this new ban, or unpaid commercial rights, or non-allowed hair color/design change or whatever. lol"

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2. Posted by Cobra Driver, 05/09/2015 11:30

"Short note to the junior dictator........you may not take your dissatisfaction to the public, but there are a lot of us out here who would. Of co****, when one lives in fantasy land.
"

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3. Posted by Paul RB, 05/09/2015 11:18

"With breathtaking arrogance the death throes of F1 continue. Standby to watch Ecclestone take up playing the fiddle while all is consumed around him (except for his own wealth, of course). "

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4. Posted by Canuck, 05/09/2015 10:32

"Is this also to be applied to all team members or just drivers? Then maybe Mr Hornblower will be silenced also about his views of Renault?

Would love to see a reaction of all the drivers by them painting a zipper on their helmets. Oh forgot they cant do that - would be a change to helmet design."

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5. Posted by Spindoctor, 05/09/2015 10:26

"More ludicrous nonsense from Bernie, who seems to become more irrational & incoherent by the week.
It appears that he believes he can pontificate about anything & everything, and implement whatever "tweak" takes his fancy; but that those whose lives depend on his whims should not.

This is a particularly simple & straightforward issue: Bernie\CVC demanded that Pirelli produce tyres which degrade rapidly, and scatter "marbles" off-line. To "spice it up" there is a very short-life tyre, and a slightly longer-life tyre, and teams must use each at least once. The failure mode of at least one of these tyre types appears unpredictable.

It simply won't do to try and bluster about damage caused by driving over kerbs etc. or about teams exceeding the tyres' (unspecified\unknown) safe limits. This is formula 1, where every .1 sec is vital, both in Qualifying, and during the race, and kerbs will be ridden, and limits pushed. It should be part of the design brief that tyres resist kerb-damage, and as the drivers pointed-out (before the gag) tyres really shouldn't "explode", ever."

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6. Posted by GrahamG, 05/09/2015 6:41

"It doesn't matter if we kill someone as long as there's no criticism of my friends who make the tyres. Isn't this about what we would have expected?. Lets hope the drivers, the teams and the GPDA stand up this and continue to express anger and criticism where appropriate.
How long before we have grid penalties imposed for "bringing the sport into disrepute" - ie any criticism of Bernie's mates?"

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7. Posted by wmcot54, 05/09/2015 4:43

"@TORC - If I'm driving a car on a world-wide broadcast, public event and a defective tire explodes at 200km/h you better believe that I will complain both privately and publicly. Your argument that "being alive kills every one of us" is irrelevent. In this case, it's not just being alive that kills, it's somebody's shoddy tire design.

Does anybody know if Bernie's ride has Pirelli tires? I would bet it doesn't."

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8. Posted by Canuck, 05/09/2015 1:04

"We don't want robots. if that is what Bernie wants let him go watch RC racing."

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9. Posted by Rock Doc, 04/09/2015 22:29

"One minute they want drivers with character that speak their minds and then the next they are not allowed to say boo to Bernie.

Not impressed"

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10. Posted by Ro, 04/09/2015 20:15

"I think the drivers are in their right to air their view in public. If a tyre fails and someone dies, thats all done in public. I for one thinks that the tyres are flaky. Ive never seen so much rubber off line. I just wish they would ban tyre stops, it was done to "spice up the show" . Its not true racing. The FIA have lost the plot."

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11. Posted by TORC, 04/09/2015 20:09

"What value does it have for anybody to air a technical issue, especially one that hasn't been put through any forensic analysis in front of the public other than to placate one's own narcissism and need for excess self-centered drama? If a particular issue is not addressed in a professional and timely manner then taking it to the media as a means of applying pressure is always an option. But to start there alienates the vendor, only causes harm and is the emotional act of an attention seeking child, not a responsible adult. Putting their lives on the line is a given, it's the foundation of the sport without which there can be no heros. If a driver is not up for that risk, then he's terribly misjudged the sport and should not be engaged in it for his own well-being. There is no such thing as 'safe', merely gradated shades of 'safer'. In the end, just being alive kills every single one of us and it's too late to whine about it."

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