Bridgestone says Webber was very lucky

Mark Webber

Bridgestone's Hirohide Hamashima has revealed that Mark Webber was extremely lucky to finish the Singapore GP as his tire was on the verge of coming off its rim.

Webber, who pitted on lap 4 of the 61-lap Singapore GP, suffered a collision with Lewis Hamilton on Lap 36, causing his front right tire to come loose of its rim.

In fact, in the hours after Webber crossing the line in third place, Bridgestone inspected his tire and found that it was just 5mm away from slipping off entirely.

"He was very, very lucky. It was just 5mm from slipping off," Bridgestone's director of motorsport tire development Hamashima told Autosport. "If it had slipped off then the pressure would probably have gone down.

"So Mark was lucky there, but also with the track too. If there were very high-speed left hand corners here, then the tire would have moved a little bit more and then it would have been finished."

Asked whether he had ever seen a tire remain inflated like that in those circumstances, he said: "No. A few times I have seen it for a few laps, but over 25 laps is incredible."