Andreas Seidl Explains McLaren’s Refusal to Support Red Bull-Led Pirelli F1 Criticism

McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl refused to support other teams on criticism against Pirelli’s “safe product”. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll involved in an identical rear-left tire failure at Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Dutch looked poised to secure his first-ever win at Baku but later involved in a frightening crash because of a tire blowout. As a result, Verstappen lost the crucial points to extend his lead over the reigning champion, Lewis Hamilton.

Meanwhile, Pirelli F1 chief Mario Isola revealed that both Aston Martin and Red Bull were running lower pressures than prescribed by the Italian tire manufacturers on the streets of Baku. But both the teams broke no rules.

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What did McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl say?

McLaren’s Team Principal, Andreas Seidl admits criticism against Pirelli is not fair and would not support others. The German, on Friday, when asked about what the teams are lacking regarding the tire blowouts said: “There’s a lot of criticism up in the air towards Pirelli, but in the end, I think that’s not something we would support from our side.

“I think Pirelli has produced a safe product for this year. If we look at our car for example in Baku, if you were running the car within the regulations and following the prescriptions from Pirelli, there was no issue with the tyre.”

Max Verstappen unhappy with Pirelli tire blowout explanation

At the drivers’ press conference, ahead of the French Grand Prix, Max Verstappen says he was unhappy with Pirelli’s remarks on tire pressure and believes his team did everything right.

Asked whether he was happy with the Pirelli explanation, the dutch said: “Personally not. I think the team did everything like they should have done; they followed all the guidelines with tire pressures at the start.”

“For sure we’ll go up on pressures here for this weekend. 100% sure we will. Probably it has something to do with that, what happened in Baku, but it would also be nice to know if it was tire pressure-related. Just speak out.

“That would be a bit easier to understand than the explanation we got so far,” added the 23- year-old.

What do you think? Can we witness further tire blowouts in the near future? Let us know in the comments section below.

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