Hamilton's puncture in Qatar not due to debris?

According to Mercedes, the puncture of Lewis Hamilton on lap 33 of the race was not caused by debris from Alex's rearview mirror Albon crushed by Valtteri Bottas. The mirror that fell around the 30th lap was not removed from the track by the stewards, only a yellow flag, removed before Bottas's passage warned the drivers. The absence of a Virtual Safety Car by Rui Marques, the race director, was strongly criticized especially since Carlos Sainz and the seven-time world champion suffered punctures to their tyres near the debris zone.

No link between the puncture and the presence of fragments

The simultaneity of Hamilton's puncture with the diffusion of carbon fragments from the Williams suggested a link between the two incidents. However, in a video posted by the German team on YouTube, Andrew Shovlin (chief race engineer of the Silver Arrows team) indicates that according to the tire pressure readings "Lewis starts to lose pressure before the mirror is hit by Valtteri". He concludes that "it is therefore unlikely that it is a puncture caused by this debris."

Other debris or Pirelli involved?

The British engineer specifies that "this does not mean that he has not picked up debris elsewhere", so we will have to wait for Pirelli's analyses and investigations. "They will carry out detailed checks on the tires, to try to understand if there has been any deterioration", recalls the chief engineer. The official supplier of rubber in Formula 1 had suggested to the teams not to keep the Mediums beyond 25 laps due to the constraints imposed on the front right of the single-seaters on a track which has many fast corners. Hamilton's tyres were 34 laps old at the time of the mishap which cost him 6 places. Sixth on the grid, he crossed the finish line in 12th position.

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