Vettel: an “unacceptable” incident at Spa

Sebastian Vettel lost his hopes of a podium at the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps when he saw his right rear tire burst while resisting Romain Grosjean to maintain his third place with two laps to go, even though he had only made one pit stop compared to two for the Lotus driver.

If the pilot of the Team Ferrari finished out of the points in 12th position, it was mainly the fear of seeing themselves go off the road at full speed which explains their anger, the incident having occurred at the entrance to the Kemmel straight where the pilots are on foot on the floor. Pirelli will be held accountable since the Italian manufacturer had released itself from all responsibility when Nico Rosberg suffered an identical blowout on the same tire during testing.

“I'm disappointed to have missed the podium, but it's unacceptable to see a tire burst at such speeds. What will the answer be? A cut, a piece of debris, the pilot coming out too wide? If Nico (Rosberg) said he didn't go off the track, then he didn't go off. I didn't cross the track limits, but the tire still exploded. Such things are not permitted. If this had happened 200 meters before, I wouldn't be here talking to you." warned the four-time world champion during the post-race press briefing.

Discover the analysis of the Belgian GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2026 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.