25/02/2012
NEWS STORY
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For the first time this year, the teams tried out the full range of Pirelli's 2012 slick tyres during this week's test at Barcelona. In total the drivers completed 3697 laps, the equivalent of 10,692 miles.
in the second test of the year, the majority of the teams ramped up the development curve with their 2012 cars, seeing how they interact with the full range of tyres on a circuit that is very familiar to all of them. A number of drivers also completed race simulations, again making use of all of the slick tyres. In particular, plenty of work was carried out using the medium tyre, which has been nominated for the first three races (together with the soft in Australia and China, and the hard in Malaysia).
The four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya was characterised by quite cold temperatures in the mornings, which made it difficult for the teams to collect a large amount of representative data. The warmer conditions of the afternoon were better suited to the working range of the tyres and provided both Pirelli and the teams with some useful data and understanding of their behaviour. There was no rain, which means that the intermediate and wets have yet to be tested.
"It was an extremely productive four days," said Paul Hembery, "and we were helped by temperatures that - at least in the afternoons - were more representative of what we will expect to see during the season.
"The teams all completed the most amount of running that we have seen so far this year, 10,692 miles as opposed to 9,289 miles in Jerez. This allowed them to gather plenty of data on all four slick tyres that we can now analyse in order to come up with a few different scenarios for the first races related to strategy options and crossover points. As we expected, most teams chose to concentrate on the medium tyre, with the emphasis often on aerodynamic set-up work rather than tyre evaluation.
"However, we got plenty of work done and we're satisfied with the levels of degradation and performance seen so far, as we head now into the final test again at Barcelona next week. It's only then that we will see a more accurate picture of the relative performance of the teams, but from our point of view we are meeting our objectives."
Testing Facts
Both the hardest and the softest slick tyres in Pirelli's range set fastest times in Barcelona.
Sebastian Vettel topped the time sheets for Red Bull Racing on day one, setting a time of 1:23.265 on hards.
The fastest time on the third day of the test was set by Williams Pastor Maldonado using supersofts.
The fastest time on the final day of the test was set by Kamui Kobayashi using softs, the fastest time of the four-day test.
The driver to complete the most laps at Barcelona was also Kobayashi who did 243 laps, around 702.89 miles.
The fastest race lap at Barcelona last year was 1:26.727 while the pole lap was 1:20.981 - but with so many parameters being tested on the new cars, it is still hard to draw many firm conclusions.
Testing Numbers
Total number of sets brought to Barcelona: 367 sets which equals 1468 tyres
Of which Supersoft tyres: 34 sets
Of which Soft tyres: 82 sets
Of which Medium tyres: 110 sets
Of which Hard tyres: 69 sets
Of which Intermediate tyres:36 sets
Of which Wet tyres: 36 sets
Total amount of sets used: 257
Of which Supersoft tyres: 16 sets
Of which Soft tyres: 81 sets
Of which Medium tyres: 95 sets
Of which Hard tyres: 65 sets
Of which Intermediate tyres: 0 sets
Of which Wet tyres: 0 sets
Longest runs:
22 laps on the hard compound
20 laps on the medium compound
24 laps on the soft compound
10 laps on the supersoft compound
Highest / lowest ambient temperature over four days: 5 degrees C / 22 degrees C
Highest / lowest track temperature over four days: 7 degrees C / 31 degrees C
Tyre Summary
Day 1
1. Vettel 1:23.265 on Hard New
2. Hulkenberg 1:23.440 on Medium New
3. Hamilton 1:23.590 on Soft New
Day 2
1. Hulkenberg 1:22.608 on Supersoft New
2. Perez 1:22:648 on Supersoft New
3. Vettel 1:22:891 on Soft New
Day 3
1. Maldonado 1:22.391 on Supersoft New
2. Schumacher 1:23.384 on Soft New
3. Kobayashi 1:23.582 on Soft New
Day 4
1. Kobayashi 1:22.312 on Soft New
2. Maldonado 1:22.561 on Supersoft New
3. Di Resta 1:23.119 on Supersoft New