Aston Martin in the dark about tyre failure in Baku: 'We don't use special tricks'

Aston Martin have disagreed with Pirelli's statement after Lance Stroll's accident in Azerbaijan. The Italian tyre company suggested that the problem was with Aston Martin themselves, but team principal Otmar Szafnauer claims that this is not true.

The Aston Martin driver was unsuspecting driving on the straight two weeks ago when his rear tyre suddenly burst. Stroll hit the wall hard and saw his race come to an end after just 30 laps. Over the following days, the tyre dealer carried out a major investigation, but without much result.

Pirelli even pointed to Aston Martin instead of themselves. "We strictly followed the rules. According to our measurements, the air pressure of the tyres was at all times higher than the initial values prescribed by Pirelli," Szafnauer told Auto, Motor und Sport. "We do not use any special tricks to artificially lower the air pressure."

Szafnauer points to Sebastian Vettel, who experienced no problems. "Sebastian was completely identical. We did nothing different at Lance. And there the tyres did not jump."