Williams Baffled by Tyre Problems

Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld suffered two right-rear tyre failures each - which in the end forced to team to retire both cars from the race on safety grounds.

With the team the only outfit to suffer such problems, their technical chiefs are now working hard with tyre supplier Michelin to find out what specific characteristics their car has to create such dramas.

Williams technical director Sam Michael said: "It is disappointing that we had to retire both cars from the race. However, after the two rear tyre incidents on each car, we had no choice.

"It is too early to speculate what the cause is but we are looking into it now with our tyre partner, Michelin."

Although all Michelin's drivers were warned prior to the race about the possibility of the kerbs at Turn 13 puncturing tyres, as exclusively revealed by Autosport-Atlas, Webber doubts that was the cause of the problem.

"They told us about it but I have not been behind the kerb at Turn 13 all weekend," said the Australian. "Obviously it is something we don't quite understand at the moment.

"You cannot continue like that so obviously we are all disappointed. The guys did a great job to get us up there but unfortunately something has bit us again and we need to understand what happened."