21/05/2011
NEWS STORY
Following a test run during Friday practice at the Turkish Grand Prix, Pirelli have brought a new hard tyre compound - referred to by many as the super-hard - to the Spanish race. The move has been generally unpopular.
The revised hard tyre offers greater durability but less pace, and the majority of drivers think that the sacrifice has not been worth it. There are concerns that teams will have to use fresh option tyres in every round of this afternoon's qualifying session, leaving them disadvantaged for Sunday's race.
The reduced pace available from the new super-hard is matched by a loss of grip, and the sense in the paddock on Friday was that teams would run on the soft tyre for as much of the Spanish Grand Prix as humanly possible. But with a limited number of sets at their disposal, and three sets used in qualifying, getting the balance right will be a strategic challenge for the brains on the pit wall.
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton was one of the new tyre's most vocal critics.
"The super hard is a disaster that wasn't nice to drive," Hamilton said. "A 2s difference, and they don't last longer. It was feeling pretty poor this morning with the new super hard tyre. I don't know why they've brought that tyre because the previous tire was pretty good. It looks pretty difficult to switch on, and then to last, it's just sliding.
"I think we were about 2.5 seconds off the pace just with that tyre," the British driver continued. "Then we switched to the normal soft, and it was fantastic. I think you'll see most people driving with that tyre for the weekend."
Fernando Alonso was in complete agreement with his former teammate.
"I think [the new hard compound tyre is] a bit different. There was already a big difference in the first four races, and for whatever reason they decided to change the hard tyre and bring a slower tyre.
"And now it's difficult to think about going in Q1 with the hard tyre," he continued, "so I think 95 per cent of the people will try to use one soft unfortunately in Q1. We'll see if anyone takes the risk. I don't know how much margin Red Bull had today."
Felipe Massa was another driver to struggle on the new compound. "That wasn't an easy day for me," the Brazilian said on Friday afternoon. "I had lots of problems getting the tyres to work, especially the hard compound, and I didn't manage to put together a good time."
Red Bull driver Mark Webber was more neutral.
"[The new hard] did go a little bit longer than the old hard would have done here," he said. "My first set was pretty decent and we had a pretty good run, but in the second set there was a bit of mystery. We didn't get the performance out of those that we would have liked. In the end I think Pirelli are still learning as we go along. The tyres are a huge factor, you can gain and lose a lot of time when you get them right and wrong, and Pirelli are still learning as well."
But Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari disagrees.
"We ran a long stint with the super hard tyres and I had never been so consistent with so little degradation, which is a step forward," the Spanish driver told the EFE news agency.
"I think the main problems we have had [in the season so far] were with the tyres, and I found myself running more comfortably and faster," Alguersuari said after running the super-hard compound in Friday practice. "I had a good feeling," he added. "You have less grip, but it's easier to drive. I'd never done a race simulation with 130kgs of petrol over 15 laps with the same rhythm."