Pirelli: Looking good despite degradation
Pirelli are adamant their new tyres are ready for the challenge of Formula One following the pre-season test.
Earlier this week at Valencia, the F1 teams put the Pirelli tyres to the test with eight teams using their 2011 cars.
The feedback from the drivers was positive despite the cold conditions resulting in high tyre degradation.
"When it is too cold the tyres are slipping, and it is also a track that is hardly representative as well," Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery told Autosport.
"All tyres degrade and that is something people seem to have forgotten over the last few days. We have been using the medium compound primarily and we are very happy with how that is going."
However, Hembrey is confident that the degradation will not cause too many problems as the tyres' performance stabilised after a few laps.
"It is two levels - degradation and wear. Wear is the way the compound is consumed on the tyre, which is different from degradation.
"There you move from a peak of performance to a stabilised performance - and that is in line with what we see and we understand."
There was, however, one common complaint amongst the teams and that related to the oversteer many were suffering.
Hembrey, though, says he was a bit surprised by this as in the past Pirelli had been asked to design a tyre a stronger front tyre.
"Last year they were all talking about understeer and they didn't like that, so it is a moving target. It will suit some people's driving style more than others.
"They asked very clearly for us to have a more robust stronger front tyre, which is what we delivered, and by its nature if you make the front tyres stronger then you change the balance.
"So, if they want a stronger rear tyre then that is something we will do for 2012 - and then they will probably complain it is understeering. You have to try to balance the requirements with 12 different chassis.
"It is different when you work with one team and you can do a lot of work to make your product ideal for that application, which is what you do in a single chassis series like GP2 or GP3.
"But there are 12 different teams and, despite them all looking from distance very similar, in reality they all have their own peculiarities and different ideas, so to favour one over the other would be wrong."
Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)
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