Pirelli satisfied with wet tyre test
Pedro de la Rosa completed two nights of testing on an artificially-soaked Yas Marina circuit © Pirelli
Pirelli has declared its wet tyre test in Abu Dhabi a success and says it is fully prepared for the start of pre-season testing in February.
The Italian tyre company has been testing its wet-weather tyres at the Yas Marina circuit for the last two nights on an artificially-soaked track. The test was the last of Pirelli's solo outings ahead of the first group test of the year at Valencia, starting on February 1. Motorsport director Paul Hembery said his company is now ready for the season ahead.
"While we are well aware that we are new to Formula One and still have plenty to learn, I'm confident that we can approach the start of this year's official testing next month with a strong package," he said. "It's been an extremely positive test session here in Abu Dhabi, thanks to the fantastic facilities we've had available to us and the usual hard work from Pedro [de la Rosa] and the rest of our team.
"We're very proud to have been part of creating a little bit of history by running a Formula One car at night for the first time on wet tyres: we very much believe that Pirelli will be able to contribute to the spectacle of Formula One in the future and seeing the car kicking up huge plumes of spray under the floodlights has certainly been an amazing sight that we will all remember for a long time."
Pedro de la Rosa was at the wheel of Pirelli's Toyota TF109 throughout both six hour sessions in Abu Dhabi and is satisfied the new tyres will meet the demands of F1.
"In my opinion, Pirelli is ready now for Formula One," he said. "The dry tyre test went very well, and confirmed everything we had learned in Bahrain the week before. But the most original part of the test was when we were running at night on the wet tyres, which was as new an experience for me as it was for everyone else.
"The most important thing was that the water levels were consistent, which allowed us to have some accurate results from the test. At the end of it, we've come up with two tyres - wet and intermediate - which I believe are both competitive and stable."
In total Pirelli has carried out over 20,000 km of testing since it started its programme at Mugello last August.
Credit: ESPN F1 (espn.com)
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