Pirelli satisfied with opening test results

From Monday to Wednesday, the drivers tested the new wider slick tyres on 2017 cars for the first time and on the fourth and final day they tried the wet-weather tyres on an artificially-dampened circuit, using both the full wet and intermediate.

“We're satisfied with the results of these four days,” said Mario Isola, Pirelli Racing Manager. “From what we can see up to now, the new product is in line with our expectations. For the 2017 season, the sport asked us to develop tyres with less degradation, which allow drivers to push to the maximum. That's what we've seen during these four days of testing so far, and what we'll continue to see in the second four-day session next week.”

“During the first session, the lap times have already been lowered considerably. The target was for lap times that were five seconds faster compared to Barcelona in 2015. On Wednesday, Valtteri Bottas set a best time of 1:19.705 on ultrasoft tyres. Considering that the pole time in 2015 at Barcelona was 1:24.681s I would say that this objective has been met.”

“We also saw the new wet weather tyres on track for the first time on the 2017 cars. The combination of new dimensions and a new tread pattern means that the water expulsion capacity of the Cinturato Blue full wet tyre has gone up from 65 to 85 litres of water per second, per tyre, at 300kph. The Cinturato Green intermediate also has an increase: from 25 to 30 litres of water per second dispersed.”

“We've now collected plenty more data for our engineers to analyse ahead of the next test session that takes place from March 7-10, again in Barcelona.”