Pre-season test one: Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, February 1-4, 2015

LOW TEMPERATURES AND A VERY ABRASIVE TRACK AT JEREZ: POSITIVE INITIAL VERDICT FROM DRIVERS ON 2015 TYRES

INCREASED LAPS AND PERFORMANCE COMPARED TO START OF 2014 SHOWS PHENOMENAL HYBRID TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery: “The four days at Jerez were quite a straightforward test, with all the teams present getting in a lot more running than they did at this time last year: which just goes to show the phenomenal rate at which this hybrid technology has developed. We experienced varied weather conditions on a very abrasive track at Jerez and encountered no issues, with generally positive comments from the drivers. From a tyre perspective, the two tests in Barcelona later this month will be more representative, as long as the weather remains favourable. The provision of our ‘winter hard’ prototype compound – a specially created testing compound, with a fast warm-up – was clearly appreciated, as the drivers used it extensively. It’s clear that the new cars have already evolved a lot since 2014, and we anticipate further improvements before we reach Melbourne in March.” Tyre sets brought to Jerez: 284 of which 5 supersoft; 37 soft; 120 medium; 57 hard; 40 intermediate; 25 full wet Tyre sets used:  155 of which: 0 supersoft; 21 soft; 83 medium; 29 hard; 16 intermediate; 6 full wet Pirelli’s special ‘winter hard’ prototype tyres (16 sets) were also brought to Jerez. Two sets of these are available per team for the total of the three pre-season test sessions. The ‘winter hard’ is a prototype tyre strictly for testing purposes only, which will not form part of the P Zero range in 2015. It is a hard tyre with a low working range compound, which allows it to quickly reach top performance even in cool conditions: well suited for European weather conditions in February.

After four days of testing a total of 2294 laps were covered. Last year, 1470 laps were covered in total during the same period, with 11 teams on track instead of eight this year. The fastest time in 2014 was 1m23.276s (Kevin Magnussen, McLaren), underlining a huge increase in performance and reliability compared to a year ago. Each team is allocated a total of 135 sets for testing purposes throughout 2015. Two more sessions will follow at Barcelona: February 19-22 and 26 till March 1^st.