Report – Blown exhaust caused Vettel puncture

According to a media report, a reason for Red Bull’s dominance in 2011 could also explain Sebastian Vettel’s mysterious retirement from the Abu Dhabi grand prix on Sunday.

Italy’s Autosprint reports that the damage to the back to back world champion’s rear Pirelli tyre on the second corner of the race could be related to Red Bull’s blown exhaust solution for its RB7 car.

“The tyre was not cut (on the kerb) or damaged by debris,” read the report.  “So what happened?”

After the race, Vettel went to the scene of the puncture to conduct his own analysis.

“In three years no one has had a tyre problem there so I wanted to see if there was an obvious cause.  There wasn’t,” the German is quoted by Express newspaper.

Autosprint’s theory is that Vettel’s pre-race routine in preparation for the start went awry.

Reportedly, the routine involves hot Renault engine gases from the exhausts of the 2011 Red Bull blowing onto the tyres.

“For some reason – defects in the procedure, the wrong mapping, other circumstances – not everything proceeded as it usually does,” claims Autosprint.

The report concludes that it was the hot gases that damaged the tyre and caused the sudden puncture.

© RIF | GMM