Pirelli heads back to Barcelona, the venue for the previous Formula One test from February 18-21, for an extra test session following the announcement that the Bahrain Grand Prix will not take place as the opening round of the 2011 season.
The test takes place over a five-day period from today until the 12th. However, the 12 Formula One teams willtest for a maximum of four days each - bringing their total number of pre-season test days up to the 15days that have been agreed.
With Pirelli recently announcing the PZero tyre compounds that will be taken to the first three races inAustralia, Malaysia and China - the hard tyre as the prime choice and the soft as the option - theteams will concentrate their testing work on those two compounds at the final test in Barcelona.The Italian firm is bringing 35 sets of tyres per team to the Spanish Grand Prix venue: a total of 1680tyres, including five sets of intermediate tyres and three sets of wet tyres per team. This isconsiderably more than the two sets of intermediate tyres and three sets of wet tyres that had beenearmarked for Bahrain.
However, the teams will be hoping for warm conditions in Barcelona, unlike the previous test at thetrack, in order to more accurately replicate the conditions that they are likely to encounter over thecourse of the season.
Pirelli's Motorsport Director Paul Hembery said: "Our last test in Barcelona was held in temperatures ofjust six degrees in the mornings, which didn't help to rubber the track in or gather the informationnecessary to base strategies on over the course of the season. We're hoping for warmer weather thisweek, although it's unlikely to be as warm as the temperatures we are expecting for the first race inAustralia. Having announced our compounds for the start of the year, most of the teams willconcentrate on testing the hard and soft PZero tyres. We're expecting them to focus on long runs andrace simulations, which should confirm the results we have previously extrapolated from our testingdata: two or sometimes three pit stops at every race."
The hard PZero compound offers a good balance between performance and durability, making it anideal choice of prime tyre over a long run in warm conditions. The soft PZero compound takes lesstime to warm up and is quicker over a shorter period of time, but is also designed to work at its best intemperatures of more than 15 degrees centigrade: which are the ambient conditions for the vastmajority of Formula One races.
A priority for the teams at this week's test will be to complete set-up work that optimises the balance ofthe cars on the new PZero rubber. The compounds are identical for both front and rear tyres, but therears – as is the case with all rear-wheel drive cars – warm up quicker because of the traction goingthrough them. The front tyres take longer to reach ideal temperature, provoking a change of balance,which the drivers and engineers must make the most of by adjusting the set-up.
Having just returned from Barcelona with the new 2011 cars, the teams and Pirelli are in a strongposition to capture plenty of meaningful data at the final test of the year this week: a last-minuteopportunity for the teams to define specifications and experiment with new parts before making thejourney to the other side of the world for the start of the 2011 Formula One season.
