Friday: Pirelli continues to prepare for 2012

The 2012 season is already the focus of attention for Pirelli in the last race of the season. The Italian manufacturer tested new tire compounds during the first two practice sessions of the weekend. Teams indeed received two additional sets of tires of a new hard compound exclusively for Friday. A rubber slightly stiffer than the one currently in use, with a lower operating window.

For the race, the drivers will use the current medium tires and the new soft tire evaluated during the recent young driver tests in Abu Dhabi and the German Grand Prix. All teams have already used both compounds during practice sessions ahead of the last race of the season.

In total, the teams were provided with five sets of tires for Friday. All were returned at the end of the day, making way for the usual allocations for the rest of the weekend.

During the morning’s first free practice sessions, it was Mark Webber who showed the fastest pace with a time of 1:13.811 on white-walled medium tires, while everyone saved the soft tires for the second session.

In the afternoon, the teams focused on stints with varying fuel loads, between 120 and 160 kg. Both compounds were used to be evaluated under race conditions. These tests took place in warm and dry weather with an ambient temperature of 26°C (41°C on the track). Slightly cooler conditions are expected for the race on Sunday. Almost all drivers switched to soft tires in the last half-hour of testing, with Lewis Hamilton posting the fastest time at 1’13”392. Only four-tenths of a second separate the top seven on the timesheet on an especially short track.

25 laps should be possible on Sunday with the yellow-walled soft tires. With the medium tires, teams should be able to manage 10 more laps. Thus, we will see most drivers make two or three pit stops, knowing that there is an eight-tenths of a second per lap difference in performance between the two compounds. However, beware of the rain, which could disrupt things as often happens in Brazil! Expected in the afternoon on Saturday, and for the race on Sunday, it may once again bring a large dose of uncertainty to the last race of the season…

Paul Hembery, Director of Pirelli Motorsport: « This weekend marks our last opportunity to test new compounds before official testing begins in February. We intend to make the most out of it. Significant changes are planned for next year. The first indications we have show that we are close to achieving our goal of reducing the lap time gap between compounds to less than a second, but there is still a lot of work ahead. We will analyze the data and technical feedback from the drivers in the coming days as part of our 2012 preparations. Before that, we need to focus on the last Grand Prix of the season, where we will see the new soft tire in action on this demanding Interlagos track, which is particularly tough on tires. Of course, much will depend on the weather: Brazil is often the scene of very dramatic races, and it would be fantastic to conclude our first season on a high note ».

[From the Pirelli press release]