Rain hampers Pirelli test session in Turkey – Formula 1 news
Pirelli’s official test driver Pedro de la Rosa has said that constant rain hampered their test session that was expected to take place in Turkey this past weekend.
“They were not the conditions we wanted; it rained for two of the three days. It was important to try the tyres on turn eight, a corner more demanding than any other in the championship,” said Pedro.
The lone tyre suppliers of the 2011 Formula 1 season wanted to know de la Rosa’s opinion about the latest developments they made to their new tyres after testing them at the Istanbul Park circuit in Turkey. However, constant rain hampered their plans.
It is expected that this will be Pedro’s last test session for Pirelli as their official test driver since he has signed with McLaren once again as their reserve driver.
Pirelli did not want to let go of him before assessing their newly updated Toyota chassis which has been improved to simulate the downforce levels according to the new 2011 regulations.
Pedro then travelled from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur after the test session where the second race of the 2011 Formula 1 season is expected to take place.
Since Red Bull Racing Team dominated the Australian Grand Prix by a mile, it is expected that they are going to be in a similar position once again but one cannot completely rule out McLaren or Ferrari as well.
“The cars that were good in the few fast corners in Australia will be even better in Malaysia. But who knows. My team [McLaren] has done a spectacular job in the past weeks,” said de la Rosa.
Ferrari gave a disappointing performance at the Australian Grand Prix as they were nowhere near the pace of McLaren or Red Bull. However, the Italian team claims that they have made some upgrades and are going to perform well.
It is expected that the Malaysian Grand Prix is going to be more competitive than the season opening race in Australia because of its long straights and the usage of Kinetic Energy Recovery System.
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