• Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying

Massa admits tyres still concern him

Felipe Massa: "Until you see that the situation is not happening anymore you aren't going to be comfortable" © Sutton Images

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Felipe Massa has admitted to feeling uncomfortable about Pirelli's tyres after the problems the Italian supplier has had this year.

Pirelli's 2013 construction suffered several delaminations in early races and then multiple blowouts at the British Grand Prix. At the Belgian Grand Prix there were two punctures during second practice caused by a piece of metal from Kimi Raikkonen's car, but the incidents are completely unrelated and Pirelli has offered the drivers an explanation.

Nevertheless, Massa said the issues so far this season mean he is still uneasy about the tyres, and he said he will not be completely happy until there are no more problems.

"I'm always a little bit concerned," he said. "These things didn't happen just one time this year, it happened many times. Until you see that the situation is not happening anymore and is quiet you aren't going to be comfortable.

"I'm not comfortable because the situation is not very quiet. I hope what they say is right [about the debris causing the punctures]. You always will be thinking if you pass debris - and sometimes you have debris coming from the tyre - that these things can happen and you can have a problem with a puncture. It's not really correct, so I hope it is exactly what they say."

However, the drivers raised no official complaints on Saturday and Jenson Button said Pirelli's explanation had put his mind at rest ahead of Saturday's sessions.

"It's always a difficult subject talking about tyre safety, but when you look at all the data and information from Pirelli it shows, I think, that it's a puncture," he said. "When you look at the damage on the tyre I don't think there is any issue and I'm fully confident that we will be running [on Sunday] and running hard from start to finish."

Lewis Hamilton agrees that Pirelli's explanation was satisfactory.

"It was the case a few races ago [that there were concerns], but I think we've been given the reason for it. It was a piece of debris or something like that, and that can happen at any time. As long as it's something like that and not the actual tyre that's fallen apart then we are happy to race."

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