Sebastian Vettel has criticised tyre supplier Pirelli after his right-rear tyre failed on the penultimate lap of the race, costing him a podium finish and likely ending his shot at challenging for the title.
The German was running third having stopped just once, defending against the Lotus of Romain Grosjean, but upon exiting Eau Rouge his tyre exploded at high-speed.
The failure comes after Nico Rosberg also suffered a problem during practice. Pirelli meanwhile defended their tyres, blaming an external object for damaging the Mercedes driver’s tyre.
Speaking after the race, Vettel said: “Things like that are not allowed to happen, full stop. If it happens 200 metres earlier I’m not standing here now I’m doing 300 stuck in Eau Rouge.
“What’s upsetting is one thing the result: this is racing, for sure we deserved to finish on the podium. But the other thing as I said is if this happens earlier I don’t… I think it’s the sort of theme that keeps going around, nobody’s mentioning, but it’s unacceptable.”
Vettel refused the reason for Rosberg’s failure, adding that Pirelli use the “same [excuse] every time”.
“‘Yeah well there was a cut by debris, there may be something wrong with the bodywork, the driver went wide’ – bullshit,” he said.
“If Nico tells us that he didn’t go off the track, he didn’t go off the track. Why should he lie to us?
“Same with me I didn’t go off the track it’s just out of the blue, the tyre explodes.”
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