Pirelli investigating cause of Vettel tyre failure

Pirelli inadvertently returned to the Formula 1 spotlight on Friday, when Sebastian Vettel suffered a puncture during Friday practice at the high-speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The incident had many paddock dwellers recalling the tyre-exploding chaos of Silverstone earlier this year, but Red Bull's Vettel did not immediately point a finger.

"Pirelli is working on finding out why it happened," he said.

Simon Cass, the correspondent for the Daily Mail newspaper, said the early suspicion is that debris - rather than a fundamental tyre problem - caused the problem.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport: "Since Sebastian brought the tyre back to the pits in basically one piece, the chances are good that Pirelli can find the cause relatively quickly." (GMM)

Subbed by AJN.