Pirelli praised the changes to the Sporting Regulations which will allow teams to test more tyres at Grand Prix weekends.
New rules announced by the FIA today will allow Pirelli to bring new compounds for testing on Fridays only.
Motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The latest amendments to the Sporting Regulations are simply another part of our pre-season preparations as we build up to our Grand Prix debut in just over two weeks time.
“We needed to put in place a mechanism within the regulations now to allow us to test new tyres in a competitive context this year if necessary, and it’s great that we have this possibility open to us because we are already hard at work defining the specification of our tyres for the future.
“Without this potential opportunity we would be unable to test with a current car and would be relying solely on a previous generation vehicle, so it could be a good solution to the testing issue for both ourselves and the teams.”
Teams will also be able to use an extra set of prime tyres only on Fridays of selected race weekends. Hembery added: “We’re not sure how often or indeed if at all we are going to use these fresh opportunities
“But the effect is to open up our options by putting in place at an early stage some pre-determined processes before we get into the swing of the season.
“Both the teams and ourselves are having to take on a lot of data in a comparatively short space of time, so the latest tyre regulation amendments from the World Motor Sport Council could help to accelerate that learning process if required.”
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Image © Pirelli
Fixy (@)
8th March 2011, 18:57
If the tyres they test on Fridays prove better, will Pirelli be allowed to use them in place of other compounds?
Icthyes (@icthyes)
8th March 2011, 19:33
I assume they can do pretty much anything they want with the tyres except change their size.
VXR
8th March 2011, 19:56
I don’t think that they will need to make any huge changes. Maybe just a bit of fine tuning.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89798
At least the sky seems to have stopped falling, for now.
VXR
8th March 2011, 20:06
Better link:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89806
VXR
8th March 2011, 20:08
Which is already up there. oops!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
8th March 2011, 20:40
Seems like a pretty sensible idea to me. Can’t see the teams jumping at the opportunity that much though, particularly early on. I think alot will be scratching their heads with tyres they have to use let alone test compounds…although it may ultimately be in their best interests.
verstappen
8th March 2011, 22:14
Just wondering how Pirelli will fare in Canada!
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
9th March 2011, 2:03
That is good for them.As they always wanted to test an extra day.Not sure about there program but probably they will test some other compound which is not there for that weekend. That will be good news for them as they will be prepared themselves for the future races.
BasCB (@bascb)
9th March 2011, 7:13
I guess this will allow them to react to issues the teams have with the tyres and improve them for later in the season and next year.
The extra set of primes they promise the teams will be a reaction to the expected high wear esp. in FP where the tracks are not rubberred in.
Dave
9th March 2011, 9:06
yay, more to watch at albert park on friday
ajokay (@)
9th March 2011, 9:27
I wonder, is there anything stopping them from bringing their 2 old Toyotas chassis and a group of mechanics, along with Pedro and Romain, and run as a Pirelli test team for the free practise sessions, alongside the competing teams?
Sure, the cars are slightly older, but surely testing in old cars as well as strapping their development tyres to the other team’s cars is better than none at all. Plus it gives them a chance to develop without any percieved bias from any other team, as they have their own thoughts to back up other’s input.
Tony
9th March 2011, 17:46
It smells like Pirelli rubber is not cooked sufficiently…
Nice to have a company with as much F1 experience as Pirelli