Vettel on top as wet tyre test concludes

2016 F1 season

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Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time during Pirelli’s two-day test at Paul Ricard which was focused on developing new wet-weather compounds.

Vandoorne ran on both days in the McLaren
Vettel took over from team mate Kimi Raikkonen on the second day of testing at the track which last held the French Grand Prix in 1990. Ferrari were one of three teams testing along with McLaren and Red Bull.

Stoffel Vandoorne was the only driver to complete both days of running. Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat shared driving duties for Red Bull. Between them the three teams covered over 600 laps totalling more than 2,300 kilometres as Pirelli worked on its full wet tyre compound.

The test was conducted ‘blind’ with no markings on the development tyres so the teams would not know which versions of the rubber they were using. Paul Ricard’s track sprinklers were used to simulate various different water levels.

Pirelli said the cool temperatures of around 11C were “not ideally representative” but it was able to collect useful data.

DriverTeamBest timeLapsDays
Sebastian VettelFerrari1’06.750134Tuesday
Daniil KvyatRed Bull1’06.833113Tuesday
Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren1’07.758214Monday and Tuesday
Daniel RicciardoRed Bull108.71399Monday
Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’09.63799Monday

2016 F1 season

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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10 comments on “Vettel on top as wet tyre test concludes”

  1. Pirelli said the cool temperatures of around 11C were “not ideally representative” but it was able to collect useful data.

    You test in January in France, what do you expect? Normal midday temperature for Le Castellet in January is 12 degrees.

    1. Another season of completely useless full wet tyres then, with Pirelli bleating about the lack of wet testing.

      Just make the full wets as hard-wearing as possible, and as deep-treaded as needed. What is there to work out exactly? Are they trying to perfect their cliff-edge formula for wets as well as dry tyres?

      1. its not that simple they have to work out the optimum level of grip as well. if they make hard-wearing deep treaded tyres they would have no grip there are probably many more parameters that they have to consider. testing is needed for better tyres dont know why FOM doesnt allow for testing

      2. Another season of completely useless full wet tyres then, with Pirelli bleating about the lack of wet testing.

        This is better that what they’ve had in the past at least. Trucks going around the racing line in dubai for 15 minutes of running for half useful data before the track is bone dry again -_-

        Just make the full wets as hard-wearing as possible, and as deep-treaded as needed. What is there to work out exactly?

        Ignorance is bliss.

      3. Another season of completely useless full wet tyres then, with Pirelli bleating about the lack of wet testing.

        Well, at least they’ve had 20 times more wet weather testing than they’ve had in the past two pre-seasons.

        Just make the full wets as hard-wearing as possible, and as deep-treaded as needed.

        Difficult to do without testing. There’s this other thing drivers and spectators like – grip.

        1. In the wet? They just have to be driveable.

  2. Whenever I see a side picture of that McLaren the only thing I can think of is HRT.

    1. No way, similar livery, similar speed but the HRT was far more reliable.

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