Pirelli Preview - Spanish Grand Prix
Everything you need to know from the Italian tyres manufacturer ahead of the fifth Grand Prix of the season in Spain.
( palabras)
The Formula 1 circus is once again back in Barcelona after the winter testing session. This time, the action becomes real as the fights for the championship goes on, with totally different conditions comparing to the testing sessions.
The 4.6 km long circuit is made of 16 long and high speed corners; Pirelli, the italian tyres manufacturer, brings in the C1 as the White hard compound, C2 as the Yellow medium compound, and C3 as the Red soft compound. During winter testing the teams tended to concentrate on the softer compounds, so they will have a lot to learn about the hardest coumpounds.
This year’s C1 compound is slightly softer than the 2018 hard, with the C2 being roughly equivalent to the 2018 medium and C3 to the 2018 soft. Thanks to this selection, Pirelli believes drivers can push hard from the start to the finish of each stint in what are likely to be warm conditions, without resorting to pace management.
Last year, Lewis Hamilton brought his team to victory in Spain, followed by his team mate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Drivers opted for one, two or three pit-stops strategies, but the one stopper was obviously the fastest one, used by Hamilton: he moved from the soft tyre sets to the medium's.
Even if teams always bring small updates to the car every weekend, the Spanish GP is known for the several big tehnical upgrades brought by teams; let's see if Mercedes will have the green light to the victory, or if Ferrari and Red Bull will be a serious threat for Hamilton and Bottas.
“There are very few mysteries about Barcelona for the teams, especially this year as the pre-season tests were held in quite good weather conditions that should be more representative of the season." Said Mario Isola, Pirelli's Head of Car Racing. "However, a number of teams are planning on bringing some car upgrades, so it will be interesting to see the effect of those on tyre behaviour, together with the continued evolution of the new track surface, which we already noted earlier this year. Even in pre-season testing, the cars were incredibly quick out of the box here, so this could be yet another race like last year in Spain where more lap records fall.”
On the Tuesday and Wednesday after the Spanish Grand Prix, the second in-season test of the year will take place with Ferrari and Racing Point: both teams will each run a second car for Pirelli to assess 2020 prototype tyres for a blind test.
About the tyres nominations, the top three teams have all made different choices, suggesting a varied tactical approach. Ferrari has made the most aggressive selection, choosing more soft tyres, but both their drivers and those of Mercedes have made slightly different selections to their team mates.
The 4.6 km long circuit is made of 16 long and high speed corners; Pirelli, the italian tyres manufacturer, brings in the C1 as the White hard compound, C2 as the Yellow medium compound, and C3 as the Red soft compound. During winter testing the teams tended to concentrate on the softer compounds, so they will have a lot to learn about the hardest coumpounds.
This year’s C1 compound is slightly softer than the 2018 hard, with the C2 being roughly equivalent to the 2018 medium and C3 to the 2018 soft. Thanks to this selection, Pirelli believes drivers can push hard from the start to the finish of each stint in what are likely to be warm conditions, without resorting to pace management.
Last year, Lewis Hamilton brought his team to victory in Spain, followed by his team mate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Drivers opted for one, two or three pit-stops strategies, but the one stopper was obviously the fastest one, used by Hamilton: he moved from the soft tyre sets to the medium's.
Even if teams always bring small updates to the car every weekend, the Spanish GP is known for the several big tehnical upgrades brought by teams; let's see if Mercedes will have the green light to the victory, or if Ferrari and Red Bull will be a serious threat for Hamilton and Bottas.
“There are very few mysteries about Barcelona for the teams, especially this year as the pre-season tests were held in quite good weather conditions that should be more representative of the season." Said Mario Isola, Pirelli's Head of Car Racing. "However, a number of teams are planning on bringing some car upgrades, so it will be interesting to see the effect of those on tyre behaviour, together with the continued evolution of the new track surface, which we already noted earlier this year. Even in pre-season testing, the cars were incredibly quick out of the box here, so this could be yet another race like last year in Spain where more lap records fall.”
On the Tuesday and Wednesday after the Spanish Grand Prix, the second in-season test of the year will take place with Ferrari and Racing Point: both teams will each run a second car for Pirelli to assess 2020 prototype tyres for a blind test.
About the tyres nominations, the top three teams have all made different choices, suggesting a varied tactical approach. Ferrari has made the most aggressive selection, choosing more soft tyres, but both their drivers and those of Mercedes have made slightly different selections to their team mates.
