Vettel puncture a mystery

Pirelli have ruled out structural tyre failure as the cause of Sebastian Vettel's crash during the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Formula One champion Vettel suffered an instant deflation that caused him to spin out on lap one at the Yas Marina circuit on Sunday.

Damage suffered to his rear suspension forced the Red Bull driver to retire from what was the penultimate race of the 2011 campaign.

Following a close examination of the tyre, Pirelli have concluded they were not at fault in the incident, dismissing structural failure as a cause of the deflation.

The Italian tyre manufacturer also doubt track debris was to blame for the crash.

"We can confirm that a structural failure was not the cause of Sebastian Vettel's deflation in Abu Dhabi, a conclusion that we have arrived at together with Red Bull Racing following a detailed examination and analysis of the remains of the tyre," Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said.

"We cannot rule out debris on the track causing damage to the tyre, which then provoked a deflation, but having looked at the track closely there is no direct evidence of this."

With structural failure and track debris apparently not at fault, it has been suggested hot exhaust gas blown across the tyre may have been the cause of the deflation.

Red Bull are yet to comment on their internal investigation into the incident.

The 2011 F1 season concludes with the Brazilian GP between November 25 and 27.