Adrian Newey says the decision not to start both Red Bull cars from the pitlane on Sunday for the Belgian Grand Prix was a very difficult call to make.
The RB7 design guru admitted he, the team and tyre supplier Pirelli, were very worried about the blistering which had occurred during qualifying, a product of exceeding Pirelli’s recommended camber.
After consulting with Pirelli, it became apparent that the structure of the tyre had been breached and a failure was imminent on both cars if they stayed out too long.
“Pirelli was telling us after qualifying that our tyres were very marginal,” he told GrandPrix. “At 5 o’clock on Saturday they wouldn’t say whether it was half a lap or five laps, but they were going to fail very soon.
“There was structural damage in the junction between the tyre wall and the tread. They felt that a failure was imminent on both cars. You can take the performance aspect on the chin, it’s the safety angle that’s worrying.”
Attempts to change the tyres and or camber would have resulted in starting from the pitlane, a call Newey almost made.
When asked why he was emotional at the end of the race, he replied: “It was purely the worry about safety. Pirelli and ourselves were very worried.
“It was a very tight call whether to start from the pit lane or not.”
Instead, the outfit opted to bring their cars in very early to change the damaged tyres, but at the risk the over-camber could yet again damage the new rubber.
“A very short run on those qualifying tyres, which is why we came in so early,” said Newey. “Mark’s were more damaged than Seb’s, which is why we brought them in after three laps and five laps respectively.”
