GreenBkk.com Formula 1 | Pirelli expecting 'three to four' stops in Malaysia

Pirelli expecting 'three to four' stops in Malaysia

Pirelli expect their intermediate and wet tyres to be called upon in Malaysia © Sutton Images

Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembrey has said he is expecting teams to have to make more pitstops in Malaysia than they did in Australia.

While Sergio Perez managed to complete the race in Melbourne stopping only once, the majority of drivers stopped two or three times. Hembrey said that while Pirelli was pleased with its debut, it was expecting much more testing conditions at Sepang.

"We were absolutely thrilled by our grand prix debut in Australia," Hembrey said. "But we're aware that Malaysia should be a very different proposition, with higher temperatures and increased degradation. We said all along that we would be seeing two to three pit stops in Australia, but in Malaysia I think that figure is likely to increase to three to four. They say that it's never a question of if it rains at Sepang but when, so the performance of our wet tyres could be crucial this weekend and we're certainly looking forward to seeing them out on track."

Hembrey also confirmed that teams would be allocated an extra two sets of tyres on Friday, with Pirelli confirming that one set would be an 'experimental hard compound' that could be used at circuits such as Turkey in the future.

"The teams will have two extra sets of slick tyres available to them during Friday's free practice sessions for evaluation purposes. With testing not allowed during the season, this gives us a valuable opportunity to gather more data and feedback, while it also gives the teams an interesting taste of what could be coming in the future."

While the drivers were surprised with the durability of the tyres in Melbourne, Jenson Button admits the track surface played a part, and that the tyres would be given a more serious test on the purpose-built Sepang circuit.

"The tyres will be the same in Malaysia as they were in Australia: the hard and the soft compounds," Button said. "But Sepang will be much hotter, with much higher track temperatures, maybe as much as 45 degrees centigrade, and the track surface is very abrasive, particularly in comparison to Albert Park, which is very smooth. Sepang really requires a lot of high-speed stability from the tyre. So all of these factors will make the tyre situation a bit trickier - I think we'll see higher degradation and more pit stops. It's a highly abrasive track, so the fronts and rears will suffer."

Credit: ESPN F1 (en.espnf1.com)