“Faultless” run for Pirelli at second F1 test

Following the conclusion of the official Formula One group test, held in Jerez, Pirelli reports its PZero tyres have enjoyed “another faultless run.” The four days of testing at the Spanish circuit presented the opportunity to present the full range of Pirelli tyres, although the wide variety of medium to high speed corners at Jerez meant that the supersoft tyres saw very little action and the teams instead favoured the soft, medium and hard compounds.

“We’ve accumulated a huge amount of data, which we will now be analysing closely before the next test in just a few days’ time in Barcelona,” commented Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery. “Unfortunately there were several red flags over the four days here due to cars going off and other non-tyre related incidents, which meant that there were quite a few teams that did not manage to complete the full programmes that they anticipated. That affected us to some extent too but from our general point of view, we enjoyed perfect reliability once more and saw some longer runs than we had seen previously at Valencia.

“From what we learned from those so far, we believe that we’re still on course to see two pit stops per race, which obviously might be one stop on some circuits and three stops on others, depending on the individual cars and track characteristics,” Hembery continued. “A number of drivers have mentioned to me that our tyres are going to be great fun to race with, which is exactly what we are aiming for.”

All 12 Formula One teams will now head to Barcelona for the final European group test of the season, which will take place on the Circuit de Catalunya. Unlike Jerez, it is a venue that all the teams are extremely familiar with, being a favoured venue for testing and also the home of the Spanish Grand Prix. Pirelli will bring a modified version of the supersoft and soft tyres, in response to feedback from the teams following the first official tests, featuring the latest evolutions of the PZero rubber.