Felipe Massa believes new Pirelli tyres are safer after the Young Driver Test – Formula 1 news
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has said that the new Pirelli tyres are quite safer than the previous ones after the Young Driver Test at Silverstone circuit last week.
After the dreadful incidents of tyre explosions in the British Grand Prix, Pirelli came up with new rear tyres in the German GP to ensure the drivers’ safety. Afterwards, the Italian tyre company decided to introduce new compound with 2012 construction from
the Hungarian GP onwards for which they conducted a test in Silverstone so that the teams may get better understanding about the tyres. Although, the race drivers were allowed for limited running opportunity in the YDT, Massa has expressed contentment over
the new tyres.
He stated that the new tyres are better and safer than their predecessors. Besides, he said that all the drivers completed their test run without facing any kind of issue which has ensured the safety of everyone in the sport.
“It seems to me these tyres work better, at least compared to what we saw in the race here,” he said. “Over the three days, no one had any problems and from the safety aspect, this is the most important thing.”
In addition, he said that the new tyres work really well at lower temperatures and last longer as compared to the previous compound which they used until the British GP this year.
“The prototype Hard seemed maybe too hard to race on. I think that in the coming grands prix we could head towards a choice of the softer compounds, because they can work at lower temperatures and last longer,” he added.
Additionally, he emphasised that they need to work very hard on their aerodynamics to get the desired downforce to achieve good results in the season ahead. Besides, he said that they are positively looking forward to perform well in the Hungarian GP.
“You need a lot of aerodynamic downforce there and let's hope we can find the right solutions to be competitive,” he explained.
Let’s see how the Brazilian driver performs in the upcoming race and whether he will be able to score competitive points for his team or not.
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