Little Difference between F1 Tyre Compounds; Rosberg Scores Quickest Lap

Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of Motorsport Tyre Development, was satisfied that the company’s Formula One Potenza tyres were meeting the required standard after the second practice session was dominated by quick times from Mercedes GP and McLaren drivers, most notably Nico Rosberg. The expected searing heat of Bahrain presented a significant challenge to the tyre supplier, being “the first time that teams have run in hot weather with the 2010 Bridgestone Potenza tyres,” according to Hamashima. Rosberg’s achievement was particularly startling, given that his fastest lap approached half a second faster than former champions Lewis Hamilton and teammate Michael Schumacher, who also showed impressive speed. Defending champion Jenson Button was fourth fastest.

Rosberg took the fastest time at the demanding Sakhir circuit on Bridgestone’s super soft tyre, setting a time of 1:55.409, while Force India driver Adrian Sutil was fastest in the morning practice session, using the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza. Hamashima evaluated the performance of the tyres with a degree of caution: “It is difficult to say from the data we have seen so far as the track is very green and we predict a lot of circuit improvement over the weekend. Even today we saw a significant reduction in graining and degradation as the circuit improved. The medium compound was used for the majority of running today with fewer laps undertaken on the super soft compound. From today’s running there is not much difference between the two compounds however this could change with further track and car set-up improvements tomorrow.

“This is quite a severe circuit so it gives our tyres a good test, especially in these hot temperatures. After the limited pre-season testing there is still much to learn and we have seen a variety of tyre usage across the field. Significantly this was the first time we’ve seen the new teams at a Grand Prix. For data collection the teams are approaching Friday practice differently this season as there are big differences in fuel loads to evaluate and there are fewer tyres available to use. The difference in fuel loads and the length of stint being undertaken on new or old tyres makes it difficult to interpret the results without all the data, and this makes practice very interesting indeed.”