Paul Hembery says teams are getting used to Pirelli tyres
Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery claimed that all Formula 1 teams have made good progress with their tyres and the drivers will get used to the characteristics of the Pirelli rubber ahead of the first race of the 2011 season in Bahrain.
Formula 1 teams will be headed to Barcelona for the third pre-season test and they will be testing the modified versions of soft and super soft Pirelli tyres during the session.
There were a lot of tyre degradation issues after the first testing session at Valencia. Drivers were not pleased with the quick wear out and raised concerns over the Italian manufactured tyres.
However, Pirelli claimed that the degradation was caused due to the weather conditions in Valencia and the rubber will not wear out rapidly in other countries. Pirelli also said that testing in different conditions will help teams.
Hembery claimed, “Once more, the track characteristics are quite different to the two circuits that we have tested at before, which enables the teams to experience the behaviour of our tyres under a wide range of circumstances: something that will be crucial
to formulating race strategies as the year goes on.”
Pirelli chief was confident of gaining a lot more experience from the Barcelona tests compared to Valencia and Jerez. He said that all teams are very well familiar with the track in Barcelona which will help the Italian tyre manufacturers gain a lot of data.
As the first race fast approaches, all teams have increased their focus on their tyre setups.
In 2010, many teams struggled with the Bridgestone tyres especially with the front rubber. However, 2011 will be completely different as Pirelli have provided all teams with a stronger front tyre.
One of the top teams which struggled with the tyres in the previous season was Mercedes GP. The German team claimed that the strength of Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and Red Bull in the 2010 season was their compatibility with the Bridgestones.
There will be no excuses for Mercedes in the new season as the German giants are expected to benefit the most from Pirelli tyres.
Tags: