Friday: Pirelli tests its soft tires for 2012

Pirelli tested a new soft compound for the first time today, in preparation for the 2012 season. McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton emerged as the fastest in both test sessions with a best time of 1:39.586 using the current yellow-striped soft compound. He thus beats last year’s pole time of Sebastian Vettel, 1:39.394.

Each driver was allocated two sets of experimental soft tires today. This new compound, which is between the current soft and supersoft, was used by Jenson Button (McLaren) to set the best time of the first session (1’40”263). McLaren dominated this session for the majority of the timed period before Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) emerged in second position, relegating Hamilton to third place. All three were fitted with the experimental tires.

These were used during both sessions. The teams thus benefited from a total of five sets for today’s free practice. The experimental compounds will be returned to Pirelli tonight, and the teams will have the traditional allocations for the rest of the weekend.

The teams focused on the two tire compounds that will be used for the race and tomorrow’s final hour of free practice. Different fuel loads were used during free practice 2, and Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton showed more speed on the usual soft tires. This compound is expected to offer a durability of about 20 laps in the race, while the white-walled medium tire can last up to about 30 laps. Most drivers are expected to make two to three pit stops on Sunday. The lap time difference between the two compounds is approximately 1.2 seconds, and the soft tire is thus likely to be favored in strategy.

The two practice sessions were held at different times than usual, with the Abu Dhabi round starting at dusk and ending at night. This allowed the drivers to get used to the visibility and track conditions they will encounter over the weekend.

Paul Hembery, Director of Pirelli Motorsport:

« It is too early to draw detailed conclusions about the experimental tires, but we have gathered a lot of information and already seen that they offer satisfactory speed, easily surpassing the times set in free practice last year. The new tire is designed to better resist blistering due to heat and should thus have better endurance and offer a smaller performance gap between the compounds. We will start analyzing some data tonight, but there is still much work to be done before deciding which compounds will be used next year. Meanwhile, we are looking forward to Sunday’s race. Today, we saw that Ferrari and especially McLaren were very consistent with the soft tire ».

[From the official Pirelli press release]