On that occasion after failures in practice, the Michelin runners pulled out after the formation lap, leaving the six Bridgestone cars – two Ferraris, two Jordans and two Minardis – to race on their own.
This time the issue discovered by Pirelli late on Saturday evening affects the whole field, and the FIA was quick to respond with a contingency plan ahead of today's sprint shootout and the sprint race itself.
There were no visible problems, and nothing was reported by the teams after FP1 and main qualifying.
But the issue became apparent after Pirelli conducted its routine Friday night analysis of used tyres, in this case those handed back by teams after FP1 and no longer needed.
The usual process involves cutting up sample tyres for a more detailed look. Usually, nothing untoward is discovered, but on this occasion, late in the evening, Pirelli found issues with multiple tyres that had run 20 laps or more.
The FIA was immediately alerted, and single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis was shown the damaged tyres and a plan formulated on how to respond.
Today's statement from the governing body noted that "a separation in the sidewall between the topping compound and the carcass cords on many of tyres that were checked was discovered.
"It is the view of the FIA and Pirelli that a significant number of additional laps on these tyres could result in circumferential damage of the tyres with subsequent air loss, and tyres analysed with lower lap numbers showed a much-reduced extent of the issue."
This development comes after there were already tyre issues at Losail in 2021, and the revised kerbs, especially at Turns 12-13, attracted a lot of comment from teams and drivers before the cars even ran on Friday.
Source: Autosport