The planned tyre test at Interlagos this week has been cancelled following attacks on F1 crews.

This week's two-day tyre test at Interlagos with McLaren has been cancelled following the spate of attacks on F1 crews over the Grand Prix weekend.

Stoffel Vandoorne and Lando Norris were scheduled to run the 2018 compounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, but this afternoon Pirelli announced that the test has been cancelled over security concerns.

"Following a robbery attempt, neutralized by Pirelli security, on a Pirelli van at the Interlagos circuit last Sunday, after a weekend where similar episodes occurred with other teams, it has been decided to cancel the tyre test planned on Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 on the Brazilian circuit with McLaren," said the Italian manufacturer.

"The decision, shared with McLaren, FIA and Formula 1, was made in the interest of the safety of the personnel, both McLaren’s and our own, who would have participated in the test."

"We have jointly decided with Pirelli to cancel this week's tyre test," added McLaren. "The safety of our people has always been our top priority, and, given recent events, we felt that it was an unnecessary risk to proceed."

Over the course of the weekend, crews from Mercedes, Sauber, Williams, Pirelli and even the FIA were subject to attacks, the most serious being that on the German team which saw a gun put to the head of a team member before robbing him and his associates of money, jewellery, passports and phones.

Being the final dedicated tyre test of the year, before the scheduled two-day event post Abu Dhabi will be a blow to both Pirelli and McLaren and it remains to be seen if the test will be rescheduled.

However, in the wake of the number of attacks over the weekend, despite the promise of increased security following Friday's attack on Mercedes, the very future of F1 at Interlagos must be in question.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Your Mom's Best Friend, 13/11/2017 18:36

"Wasn't the solution to this problem obvious beforehand ?

All the F.i.A. needed to do was to issue to all the participants their own personal HALO devices.

Had they just done this one simple thing it would have surely guaranteed the safety of all concerned."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by F1 Yank, 13/11/2017 18:27

"Wow, it is just impossible to go anywhere now without security measures."

Rating: Negative (-1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by Anthony, 13/11/2017 17:26

"One wonders whether the Barcelona test will take place next year or be transferred somewhere else.Paul Ricard might be good but am I right in thinking that this circuit is owned by Bernie? On Sky this weekend he said that he is so high up in F1 that he can't see what's going on! Does that make it more or less likely that F1 will use a circuit he owns?!! "

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Tyre test cancelled over security concerns

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page