Pirelli satisfied with five-day test session in Bahrain
During the 2010 Formula 1 season, some of the drivers faced many problems with grip and control of the cars which experts believe was because of the new tyre compounds Bridgestone introduced for 2010.
Since the International Automobile Federation’s (FIA) contract with Bridgestone was due to end after the 2010 season, it was revealed that sport’s governing body is going to change the tyre supplying company for 2011.
Most of the tyre supplying companies like Michelin and Goodyear were willing to be a part of the sport only if they were not the lone tyre suppliers. They wanted the FIA to have two tyre suppliers so that the teams could have a choice.
But the FIA wanted to keep a single tyre supplying company for 2011 and therefore, Pirelli was the only option left for them.
Pirelli signed with the FIA a couple of months ago and have proved that they are doing a better job than Bridgestone since the drivers are extremely satisfied with the tyre’s test session results.
According to Pirelli motorsports director Paul Hembery, the lone tyre suppliers for 2011 are confident about their product after completing their latest test session in Bahrain.
“We ran two drivers in order to compare two different sets of feedback, and the fact that they were both saying the same positive things at the end of the test only underlines the progress that we have made. There's still some work to do, but we can head
into 2011 with confidence,” Hembery said.
Pedro de la Rosa and Romain Grosjean tested the new tyres in a five-day test session on a 2009 Toyota. They compared the tyres after driving in various temperatures and it seems that they are pretty happy with the result.
“I think this goes to show that, wherever you are in the world, uncertain weather can arrive in a variety of forms. But Formula One is all about expecting the unexpected, and we were able to quickly react to these changing circumstances by extending our
test,” Paul added.
The test session was prolonged due to a sandstorm but it did not affect the testing much. The next session is also going to take place in Bahrain before three days of testing in Abu Dhabi. This would also be a private test session and it seems that the Formula
1 drivers will have to wait until February to test drive the new tyres.
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