19
November
2010
|
16:24
Europe/Amsterdam

Pirelli: satisfactory start to Abu Dhabi testing. The first day of testing at the Yas Marina circuit has been completed

Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: “We’re encouraged by the good working relationship and some promising results. Teams have appreciated the reliability and consistent performance of our new tyres. The lap times were good for everyone.” Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), 19 November 2010 - Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari got Pirelli’s Formula One return underway on the opening day of testing, which took place with all 12 of the teams that compete at the pinnacle of world motorsport. The Spaniard was the first man to emerge from the pits shortly after 0900 this morning, giving the green light to the 2011 season and Pirelli’s three-year tyre supply deal. The teams faced challenging conditions during the first day of tests. In the morning the temperature was around 25 degrees centigrade, equivalent to a track temperature of 37 degrees. At 1700 all the cars returned to their garages, having completed between 70 to 80 laps each on average: the equivalent of a Grand Prix and a half. There were 13 drivers on the track today: one per team with the exception of Force India, which ran Adrian Sutil in the morning and Paul di Resta in the afternoon. Pirelli supplied the teams with four sets of tyres today, in soft and medium compounds, so that they could carry out their own pre-defined test programmes. The same quantities of Pirelli rubber will be supplied to the teams once more tomorrow, when some of the champions who missed today’s action will take to the track for the first time. Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsport director, said: “We’re very pleased with this first day of testing and the excellent working relationship that has been struck up between our engineers and all the teams and drivers. We’re gathering plenty of useful information and valuable suggestions, as well as some encouraging comments. So far, I would say that everything has gone according to plan. In particular we are very pleased with the reliability and stability of our tyres as well as with the turn-in performance of the front tyre. The lap times set by all the teams have been excellent, and they have each covered a lot of ground as can be seen from the number of laps run. The teams are also making the most of these test sessions to try out different set-ups and some new ideas for 2011, which provides us with an even greater challenge and more meaningful results. I would say that we are in a strong position now to approach the first official tests in February 2011 with a good package.” The teams were backed up throughout the tests by Pirelli’s engineers and technicians. The Italian company put a dedicated engineer at the disposal of each team, in order to collect data and opinions that will be discussed with the teams and drivers. At the end of the day there was a final briefing between the teams and Pirelli to share information and focus more closely on some of the data that had been obtained. Pedro de la Rosa – one of Pirelli’s drivers in private testing along with Nick Heidfeld and Romain Grosjean – was also present to support Pirelli’s F1 squad. De la Rosa visited all the teams today to get the first impressions from the drivers and their individual opinions. The drivers present during the first day of testing were: Jaime Alguersuari (Scuderia Toro Rosso): 1.42.019 Rubens Barrichello (Williams) 1.41.425 Timo Glock (Virgin) 1.44.124 Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber): 1.40.950 Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus): 1.44.686 Robert Kubica (Renault): 1.41.032 Pastor Maldonado (HRT): 1.45.728 Felipe Massa (Ferrari): 1.40.170 Gary Paffett (McLaren): 1.40.874 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes): 1.41.778 Paul di Resta (Force India): 1.41.615 Adrian Sutil (Force India): 1.42.859 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull): 1.40.500 Interview with Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/164685/PIRELLI/AbuDhabi_nov2010-INTW_Hembery_ENGpress.mpeg.zip Pirelli F1 Archive: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/164685/PIRELLI/Pirelli_F1_archive.mpeg.zip Pirelli F1 Private 2010: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/164685/PIRELLI/Pirelli_F1_private_test_2010.mpeg.zip Photographs are available for media to website from: www.pirelli.com/pressarea On site contacts: Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 68 44 307 – francescopaolo.tarallo@pirelli.com Gloria Cagliani +39 331 18 51 703 - gloria.cagliani@pirelli.com Anthony Peacock +44 7765 896 930 - anthony@mediatica.co.uk PDF Version (53KB)