Pirelli is not satisfied with the tests carried out with the 2010 car

The note “small window” of operation of Pirelli this year could have been avoided with the help of the F1 teams.

This is the opinion of the motorsport director of the Italian company, Paul Hembery, who stated that F1's sole supplier had not foreseen this behavior on the part of the compounds 2012.

“The same tires as 2012 on our car test 2010 they don't have the same behavior,” the Englishman told Totalrace.

Until last year, Pirelli developed tires with one 2009 Toyota updated to simulate the rule change.

Now the two Pirelli testers, viz Jaime Algersuari and Lucas di Grassi, work with a 2010 Renault, the last one driven by Robert Kubica.

However Hembery stated that “the aerodynamic balance” of a 2010 car is fundamentally different from that of a 2012 car.

“This is an important aspect because it changes the energy that reaches the tires and therefore the relative temperature from the front to the rear” explained Hembery.

Asked if Pirelli had predicted the characteristics of the 2012 tyres, Hembery revealed: "No, because we can't predict them with a 2010 car."

Then he was asked another question about continuing to test tires with Renault, and the Englishman replied: "It's the only car we have for testing."

“We definitely don't like testing with a 2-year-old car, but we fought hard to get it.”

Hembery explained that to obtain a car with similar characteristics to the 2012 ones, the teams' approval is required "and they are not willing to give it".

“It took us 18 months to reach consensus to have a 2010 car.”

“The cars change a lot from one year to the next, and in terms of compounds we need very precise parameters” concluded Hembery.

Stefano Rifici