Formula One news

Williams' tyre failures explained?

As the Sunday sun disappeared in Istanbul, no-one was any the wiser as to why Williams - and no other F1 team - suffered five right-rear tyre failures at the 'Otodrom' venue. Michelin's director of F1 activity, Nick Shorrock, vowed to check the condition of the other French made tyres in the Turkish grand prix. "But this is a problem that we have seen only on the Williams cars," he insisted.

In that way, then, any correlation between the failures and the Indianapolis pullout is perhaps not fair, although it is true that - at the ill fated US grand prix - only Toyota appeared affected.

One piece of speculation in the Turkish paddock, though, is that the FIA were sent a note from Michelin before the race that its seven teams had been told to stay away from the sharp edge of the turn-13 curb.

The Clermont-Ferrand tyre supplier apparently ascertained that Mark Webber's practice failure - on his right rear - was caused by the rim rubbing on the curb. Michelin encountered a similar problem at Spa last year.

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