While running in front of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton on Sunday, Petrov failed to properly control his single-seater when approaching Turn 8 and ran wide, after which he hit a bump in the run-offs that projected him into the air and damaged his car at landing. According to the Renault driver, the big chunks of Pirelli tires resting on the side of the racing line on the track were important elements in his incident.
“The corner is difficult, but to be honest you try to not win so much on this corner,” said Petrov, trying to understand what he did wrong in the aforementioned corner. “There were two laps to go. I knew Lewis [Hamilton] was behind me, and I knew the tires were quite good as I showed the fastest laps.”
“I think I picked up just a little bit of rubber, and as soon as you take one piece of rubber, you have a little bit of understeer. I think I had this little bit of understeer and then I went wider and wider. You should be able to come back to the track there, so I just kept going – but then I hit the big bump,” he added.
Shortly after the race, Force India's di Resta also pointed the finger at the rubber marbles on the Sepang track, indicative of Pirelli's extensive tire wear on the Malaysian circuit. According to the Scottish driver, some of those chunks actually hit him a few times.
“Rubber is not the softest material and if it got you in the right place, it could hurt,” he said.
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