06/08/2020
NEWS STORY
Following its investigation of the various issues encountered by drivers during the British Grand Prix, not least the tyre failures suffered by the Mercedes drivers and Carlos Sainz, Pirelli cited one of the causes as the kerb at the exit of Becketts going into Chapel.
"Probably some of the cuts we found on Friday were caused by the fact that some debris was trapped in the kerb, causing some cuts in the tyres," said Pirelli motorsport boss, Mario Isola in a subsequent media briefing.
"They are working around that and it's a good action, it's a good idea to have this small modification that is helping this situation."
Drivers who cut the corner - no pun intended - ran over some grass before hitting the blunt edge of the kerb which put unnecessary load and stress through the tyre wall.
"We have seen a lot of cuts and stuff that we don't normally see in practice," said Renault driver, Esteban Ocon. "Silverstone is probably the toughest circuit for tyres with the high speed and the kerbs.
"There is a new thing as well out of Turn 13, there is now no kerb anymore which there was before, so now you run in the dirt and then you go on to the kerb and that could also damage the tyres.
"I don't know if it came from the carbon debris or just the track being very hard with the tyres or the new cars running wider than I was used to in 2018," he added. "But we've seen more damage and more cut to the tyres than we have ever seen."
Consequently, Silverstone has added a new 23 metre section of kerb.
"To help the drivers adhere to track limits this weekend, at the request of the FIA, a 23 metre section of kerb with taper has been installed at the exit of turn 13 ahead of this weekend's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix," said a Silverstone spokeswoman, according to Motorsport.com.
In addition, the barrier that Daniil Kvyat hit following his off at Turn 11 (Maggots) has been replaced by a new 36m long tyre wall.
Check out our Thursday gallery from Silverstone, here.