As well as setting fastest time Felipe Massa did the longest individual stint on the new Pirelli tyres in the first test on them at Abu Dhabi today.
Having often struggled with the Bridgestone tyres this year Massa was pleased with how his first run on Pirellis went. He said:
It was a positive start to begin to understand the behaviour of the Pirelli tyres. I felt at ease right from the start and there were no unpleasant surprises.
Felipe Massa
All laps
View interactive chart full screen
Tick/untick drivers’ names to show their laps, click and drag to zoom
The interactive graph above shows all the lap times set by all the drivers in the first Pirelli test session at Abu Dhabi. It does not include laps in and out of the pits.
As there are a lot of lap times plotted on the graph you may find it easier to view the full-screen version.
On both versions you can click and drag on the chart to zoom in on a particular area. You can then use the slider which appears at the top of the graph to scroll through the times.
And you can use the check boxes at the bottom to show and hide drivers’ lap times.
The chart below showing the drivers’ speeds at the speed trap works in the same way.
As well as doing the fastest time of the session Felipe Massa also did the longest unbroken stint, staying out for 15 laps towards the end of the session.
His timed dipped from the 1’45 mark down to a quickest of 1’43.624 in that stint. Interestingly, not long before that he did another stint where his times gradually got slower, rising from the mid-1’45s to the mid-1’47s, suggesting he switch to a new set of tyres between the two runs.
Few other drivers did stints of more than ten laps. One was Kamui Kobayashi, with somewhat more erratic lap times, but generally getting quicker. Timo Glock did a pair of 13-lap stints and it looks like the tyres went off in the second one.
The teams were given four sets of tyres for the test and will get another four sets for tomorrow’s running.
Car | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Lap | At time | Laps | |
1 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’40.170 | 79 | 438 | 94 | |
2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’40.500 | 0.330 | 67 | 442 | 78 |
3 | 51 | Gary Paffett | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’40.874 | 0.704 | 73 | 413 | 94 |
4 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’40.950 | 0.780 | 56 | 413 | 83 |
5 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’41.032 | 0.862 | 23 | 159 | 39 |
6 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’41.425 | 1.255 | 63 | 345 | 91 |
7 | 37 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’41.615 | 1.445 | 15 | 49 | 21 |
8 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’41.778 | 1.608 | 61 | 368 | 81 |
9 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’42.019 | 1.849 | 43 | 391 | 71 |
10 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’42.859 | 2.689 | 10 | 97 | 20 |
11 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’44.124 | 3.954 | 69 | 448 | 78 |
12 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’44.686 | 4.516 | 86 | 469 | 88 |
13 | 40 | Pastor Maldonado | HRT-Cosworth | 1’45.728 | 5.558 | 55 | 318 | 83 |
Best sector times
Kobayashi’s combined pace in the Sauber was on a par with Massa’s, the Japanese driver going fastest in the middle sector.
Car | Driver | Car | Best S1 | Best S2 | Best S3 | Ultimate lap | Gap to best | |
1 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 17.669 | 42.578 | 39.829 | 1’40.076 | 0.094 |
2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 17.715 | 42.732 | 39.883 | 1’40.330 | 0.170 |
3 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber | 17.856 | 42.432 | 40.113 | 1’40.401 | 0.549 |
4 | 51 | Gary Paffett | McLaren | 17.709 | 42.687 | 40.313 | 1’40.709 | 0.165 |
5 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 17.827 | 42.775 | 40.381 | 1’40.983 | 0.049 |
6 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams | 17.916 | 42.648 | 40.490 | 1’41.054 | 0.371 |
7 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 18.054 | 42.761 | 40.694 | 1’41.509 | 0.269 |
8 | 37 | Paul di Resta | Force India | 17.846 | 43.032 | 40.639 | 1’41.517 | 0.098 |
9 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 17.965 | 42.987 | 40.788 | 1’41.740 | 0.279 |
10 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | 17.999 | 43.360 | 41.373 | 1’42.732 | 0.127 |
11 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin | 18.353 | 43.945 | 41.746 | 1’44.044 | 0.080 |
12 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus | 18.445 | 43.995 | 42.099 | 1’44.539 | 0.147 |
13 | 40 | Pastor Maldonado | HRT | 18.623 | 43.938 | 42.738 | 1’45.299 | 0.429 |
Speed trap
View interactive chart full screen
Tick/untick drivers’ names to show their laps, click and drag to zoom
Once again Williams did some constant speed work for aerodynamic evaluation – note Barrichello hitting 200kph consistently in the speed trap in his early runs.
Other than that the maximum speeds were not dissimilar to what was seen earlier in the test.
Car | Driver | Car | Speed trap (kph) | Gap | |
1 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 317.52 | |
2 | 51 | Gary Paffett | McLaren-Mercedes | 316.59 | -0.93 |
3 | 37 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 316.59 | -0.93 |
4 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 315.66 | -1.86 |
5 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 312.91 | -4.61 |
6 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 312.91 | -4.61 |
7 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 312 | -5.52 |
8 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 311.1 | -6.42 |
9 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 311.1 | -6.42 |
10 | 40 | Pastor Maldonado | HRT-Cosworth | 310.2 | -7.32 |
11 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 309.31 | -8.21 |
12 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 305.8 | -11.72 |
13 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 304.93 | -12.59 |
2011 F1 testing
Image © Ferrari spa
Murph
19th November 2010, 15:51
Good to see Kobayashi so quick on the Pirelli’s
sumedh
19th November 2010, 16:21
Except for Nico Rosberg, whose times seem to be slower by 0.5 seconds every passing lap, all the other drivers laps seem to be the standard pattern.
Pirelli needs to be told that their job is to make the team’s job harder. not easier.
brendan
19th November 2010, 17:13
i agree but they dont want teams complaining about the tyre. tho better for us not better for their promotion.
Rosberg is already moaning about them
Alexi (@)
19th November 2010, 18:04
And Schumacher has the same driving style at Massa. Looks like his wishes about Pirellis favoring him are going to come true…
rascalb
19th November 2010, 17:36
Have they said anything about compounds? I think I remember hearing that they are going to continue the Bridgestone model of four dry compounds, one intermediate, and one extreme wet tire.
Do we know how hard or soft these tires are in comparison to others they are planning? And can we please get a better indication of a tire being the option or the prime than that almost invisible green stripe?
VXR
19th November 2010, 17:56
A driver will always want the tyres to be as grippy as possible and last as long as possible whilst remaining grippy. I hope that the Pirelli engineers don’t listen to what the drivers are saying too much and think more than a little bit about what’s good for the racing.
VXR
19th November 2010, 17:58
Pirelli need to avoid getting stuck in the rut that Bridgestone are still stuck in from when they were going head-to-head against Michelin.
Chris P
19th November 2010, 18:27
Keith, I’m sure Rubens will be happy with you grouping him under the banner of ‘Young Drivers’ in both charts, but I don’t think it is accurate today!
Arpi_
19th November 2010, 20:02
Maybe it’s me, but can’t stand Pirelli’s typo. Hope they’ll fix ’till next season.
TedNash
19th November 2010, 23:14
Good stuff. Where did you get the data from?
F1iLike
20th November 2010, 0:29
Looks like they’re loosing most time in the last most twisty section compared to their qualifying laps.. the other sectors is almost similar.. So I guess grip levels are not so good yet..
F1iLike
20th November 2010, 1:22
btw, It’s worth noting though that they run the cars ballasted to 2011 weight regulations. That should add some time to the lap…
Morgan
20th November 2010, 0:41
Hi Keith, can you provide an actual list of all times at all, or would you be able to say where you got them from please?
Sutil-M (@)
20th November 2010, 17:55
Wow well done di resta for being faster than Sutil