Pirelli: Medium and soft tires are popular in Barcelona
The teams will mainly work with medium and soft tires during the first week of testing in Barcelona, as these are the tires that have mostly been chosen for the first three races of the season.
Two weeks after conducting its first 2012 tire tests with the new single-seaters, Pirelli is heading to Barcelona on the circuit that has most worn out Italian F1 tires, accumulating thousands of kilometers in private and official testing.
However, the definitive 2012 tire specifications will run for the first time on the Catalan track, after an initial test on the Andalusian track in Jerez. In addition to being familiar territory for Pirelli, the track is well-known by the teams inside out, allowing them to precisely use all the data accumulated over the past years on the circuits to analyze the debut of their 2012 single-seaters on the track.
In total, Pirelli will bring 367 sets of tires for the four days of testing, taking place from February 21 to 24. That’s 73 more sets than in Jerez. Allowed to use 100 sets of tires in testing per car throughout the season, the teams are expected once again to primarily focus on the medium compound P Zero White. 110 sets of this compound will be supplied in Barcelona.
The medium compound was designed by Pirelli to offer adaptability to various track conditions and to ensure a high level of performance, coupled with better durability. This is one of the reasons why Pirelli chose the medium for the first three Grand Prix of the season, complemented by the soft compound (Australia and China) and the hard compound (Malaysia).
The P Zero Yellow soft tire is the other most popular choice for the upcoming tests, with 82 sets selected for the Spanish outing. Additionally, Pirelli will offer 69 sets of hard tires (P Zero Silver), as well as 36 sets of intermediate (Cinturato Green) and wet (Cinturato Blue) compounds. Finally, 34 sets of the super soft P Zero Red will be offered and will line up for the first time; no team chose to run them at Jerez.
The 4.65 km Circuit de Catalunya track marks the second official test session of the year, which will begin tomorrow. It features long straights and various types of corners, making it one of the ideal locations to gather information on numerous parameters over distance. Last year’s winter tests in Barcelona were affected by the cold and had significant impacts on tire behavior.
Paul Hembery, Director of Pirelli Motorsport: « Everyone is hoping for warmer and more consistent temperatures in Barcelona this week, which we didn’t have in Jerez. Nevertheless, the message at the end of these first tests was very positive, and the drivers were generally happy with the warm-up time, performance, and durability of our new tires, specifically made for the 2012 regulations. Barcelona is a very different circuit from Jerez and puts more stress on the front-left tires in particular, due to the high speeds and numerous right-hand corners. The teams’ focus will once again be on development and evaluating the interaction between their 2012 cars and the chassis ».
[From the official press release published by Pirelli Motorsport]
