First Official F1 Tire Test Done by Pirelli

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Over the course of two days, the first official F1 tire test done by Pirelli Tires has covered almost 11,000 kilometers (about 6900 miles) to conclude the first official tire test for Pirelli: the exclusive Formula One tire supplier for 2011. Testing was done at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and featured a Who's Who of 15 F1 drivers including Fernando Alonso, Robert Kubica, and Michael Schumacher among others.

Pirelli F1 Tire Test Results

The next private test, to fine-tune the tires, will take place in Bahrain at the beginning of December. After Bahrain, the next official tire test with all the teams is scheduled for February 2011.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli's motorsport director, said, "We've passed our first test with full marks. All the teams have done plenty of laps and everyone has worked very hard. We've focused on the development of the front tire and that has given us the most satisfaction. On Monday, we begin to analyze the data collected over the last two days"

The drivers testing, their best times and the laps they completed are listed below:

  • Fernando Alonso (Ferrari): 1.40.529 (105 laps)
  • Rubens Barrichello (Williams): 1.41.294 (101 laps)
  • Sebastien Buemi (Scuderia Toro Rosso): 1.42.145 (98 laps)
  • Timo Glock (Virgin): 1.44.783 (83 laps)
  • Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber): 1.42.110 (43 laps)
  • Robert Kubica (Renault): 1.41.614 (91 laps)
  • Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India): 1.42.416 (47 laps)
  • Pastor Maldonado (HRT): 1.44.768 (65 laps)
  • Gary Paffett (McLaren): 1.41.622 (46 laps)
  • Sergio Perez (Sauber): 1.42.777 (46 laps)
  • Paul di Resta (Force India): 1.41.869 (35 laps)
  • Michael Schumacher (Mercedes): 1.40.685 (74 laps)
  • Jarno Trulli (Lotus): 1.44.521 (83 laps)
  • Oliver Turvey (McLaren) 1.41.740 (30 laps)
  • Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull): 1.40.825 (66 laps)

A total of 15 drivers were on track: one per team apart from Force India, McLaren and Sauber, which used two drivers. On both days, the test started at 9 a.m. and finished at 5 p.m., with hot and dry conditions all day ranging between 73 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Each car had four sets of tires at its disposal, two medium-compound sets and two soft-compound sets.

Hemberry added, "They have also been 11,000 very interesting kilometers, given that we were testing for the first time with the current cars, rather than the 2009-specification Toyota that we have used up to now. Furthermore the teams have begun to test different solutions specifically for 2011, giving them further development directions. We've now collected a huge amount of data and opinions, which we will start to analyze on Monday as we prepare for the next tests in Bahrain at the beginning of December. After then, we will have finalized our product and we can look forward to the next official test with all the teams at the start of February."