I left Silverstone and the calamatous British Grand Prix feeling as deflated as one of Pirelli’s infamously perilous tyres.

And my downcast mood, along with those, no doubt, of the 120,000 spectators, as well as millions of TV viewers worldwide, was all the fault of the Italian tyre company.

Their culpability borders on shame and how their motorsport director and grand prix supply boss Paul Hembery is hanging on to his job is a mystery that would baffle Sherlock Holmes.

Little wonder the mood of the courageous drivers who risk their lives at 200-plus mph is reaching a crucial turning point — they certainly do not need the added very real risk of a tyre explosion when they are flat out and wheel-to-wheel.

With the German Grand Prix looming this weekend, urgency in resolving the threat to life and limb, not only of drivers but spectators too, is paramount and that was no doubt the warning to Hembery when he was summoned to appear before Jean Todt, the president of the FIA, the rule makers.

Drivers’ fury, heightened by five scary blow-outs at Silverstone, could find its echoes in a walk-out before the Nurburgring clash if Pirelli fail to reassure them they can compete with confidence that they won’t be victims of exploding rubber — and who could blame them? Not me.

I would not venture a penny to gamble against a repeat of the Silverstone shambles.

There has been comment and criticism galore, up front and behind the scenes, all season over Pirelli’s abject failure to produce a tyre to match the demands of grand prix cars and drivers whose second nature is to stretch their pedigree transport to its absolute limits.

And, for my money, I am afraid Mr Hembery has been far too glib in shading himself and his company from criticism and weakly justifying the long-running issue.

Pirelli should count themselves lucky they are the sole suppliers of tyres for the Formula One show, otherwise, I am certain, they would have been up the road.

As it is I would venture a guess that their commercial reputation could be seriously damaged by their spectacular sporting failures.

Lewis Hamilton was, with full justification, heavily critical of Pirelli’s duff supply after his chances of a home victory were sabotaged by what has been widely dubbed a “terror tyre” as early as lap eight.

The 2008 champion fumed: “It is unacceptable. It is the first time in my career I have felt the danger. The car becomes very loose and out of control and you have to fight to keep it on a straight line.”

McLaren’s Jenson Button, the 2009 title holder, remarked: “If we keep to these tyres, we have a safety issue. It’s a farce and it is a danger.”

Red Bull designer Adrian Newey said: “You could suddenly have three kilos of tread flying around and, if that hits a following driver in the helmet, it doesn’t bear thinking about.”

Kimi Raikkonen was lucky to get away without injury when a heavy lump of rubber from an exploding tyre landed in his cockpit.

And puncture victim Felipe Massa stirred the controversy by mooting a boycott of the German round if Pirelli fail to assure the teams they will have a safe race.

It is rare for Formula One, rival drivers and teams, to speak as one — but on the Pirelli problem they are united in their demands and concerns.

Who could blame them?

The writer is a motorsport expert based in the UK