Nearly 15,000 kilometers of convincing tests for Pirelli

The four test days in Jerez were an opportunity to see Formula 1 cars back on track and also to discover the teams’ new cars. But for Pirelli, it was an opportunity to test the new tires implemented for 2012 in real-life conditions.

The manufacturer brought 1176 tires and Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsport director, stated that everything went well. The drivers and teams were delighted with the performance of these new tires, and for Pirelli, the tests went as expected.

The tires performed exactly as we hoped here in Jerez, and we received very positive feedback from the drivers and teams so far; they felt more rear grip, fewer ‘marbles’, smaller lap time differences between compounds, and also better performance – which is precisely what we wanted, Paul Hembery stated in a press release issued by Pirelli.

Pirelli has also worked on tire degradation to have fewer “marbles” or rubber balls, and the work seems to have paid off. But for the moment, Pirelli cannot really draw conclusions about the performance of its tires because the teams have focused more on the reliability and performance of their cars than on the new tires.

« We are happy with the level of degradation and we haven’t had the slightest problem, as was the case last year. But since the temperatures in Jerez were very low and the teams were focused on areas other than tires, it is too early to draw detailed conclusions. »

« We will see more development work on the tires during the upcoming tests in Barcelona, and with the teams, we fully understand the implications of the latest rules (implemented). However, with our three slick tires having set a fastest time, it is a clear sign that we are on the right track to achieve our goals, » added Hembery.

On Tuesday, during the first day of testing, Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest time with Medium tires. On the second day of testing, Michael Schumacher, equipped with Hard tires, improved on this absolute best time. The final word ultimately went to Nico Rosberg, who clocked a 1:17.631 on Thursday in the 2011 Mercedes fitted with Soft tires.

Some figures regarding Pirelli tires and the Jerez tests

Pirelli had brought 294 sets of tires distributed as follows:

– 71 Tender trains;
– 105 Medium trains;
– 43 Hard trains;
– 38 Intermediate trains;
– 37 Rain trains.

Finally, despite rather low temperatures, it did not rain in Spain, and the teams did not use intermediate or rain tires. They used a total of 181 sets of tires during these four days of testing, distributed as follows:

• 57 Soft trains;
• 91 Medium trains;
• 33 Hard trains;
• 0 Intermediate trains;
• 0 Rain trains.

Some teams conducted long stint simulations in Jerez, which allowed Pirelli to gain an initial indication of the longevity of its tires.

Longest relays completed

– 26 laps with Hard tires;
– 27 laps with Medium tires;
– 20 laps with Soft tires.