19/12/2013
NEWS STORY
Pirelli has reacted in the wake of Nico Rosberg's incident at Bahrain earlier today.
The Mercedes driver Tweeted shortly after 10.00 (UK time): "Just spun at full speed 320km/h on Bahrain straight cause my tyre blew up without warning. Thanks to that need to get some toilet paper now.”
While the tweet was soon removed it wasn't long before reports of the incident - the first news to come out of the three-day tyre test - began emerging online. Some of the headlines - based on that sole tweet - ever more sensational and suggesting that Pirelli's 2014 rubber would be every bit as bad as that witnessed in early 2013.
However, the Italian manufacturer was (fairly) quick to react, and subsequently issued the following:
"The tyre tests in Bahrain regarded a number of prototypes, which were completely innovative in terms of structure and compounds, with the aim of developing the most suitable solutions for the next season," said the team.
"This morning Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes was fitted with one of these prototypes, a tyre which had only been tested in the laboratory and which will not be proposed again. Thus, the safety of the tyres which will be supplied for the next Championship is not in question. The accident which happened to Rosberg’s car is being investigated and the findings will be communicated to the FIA and the teams."
A subsequent tweet from Rosberg showing him and his car ready to head home indicates that the German has not been banned from social media. Yet.