Pirelli hit back at Sebastian Vettel’s claims that a burst tire "could have cost him his life during the final moments of the Belgian Grand Prix," according to Kevin Eason of the LONDON TIMES. Vettel launched an expletive-laden tirade against the Italian tiremaker after a puncture "cost him third place on Sunday." He accused Pirelli of advising teams that the medium tires he was trying to nurse for 30 laps to the finish "should have been good for 40 laps." However, Pirelli Motorsport Dir Paul Hembery said that he would have been concerned if he had known that Ferrari was intending to allow Vettel to change his tires just once during the Belgian Grand Prix "when every other team was aiming for a minimum of two stops." Hembery issued a statement detailing a plan as long ago as Nov. 2013, to limit tire use for safety reasons, "which was thrown out by the teams." The statement said, "Pirelli requested that there should be rules to govern the maximum number of laps that can be driven on the same set of tyres, among other parameters to do with correct tyre usage. This request was not accepted" (LONDON TIMES, 8/24).
