F1 | Pirelli GP Spain Preview, Isola: “Attention to team updates”

Pirelli names the three hardest compounds in its range, P Zero Orange hard, P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft, for the first time this year. The choice was dictated by the need to cope with the well-known challenges posed to tires by the Circuit of Catalunya: long, fast corners, abrasive asphalt and the likelihood of high temperatures. The Barcelona track is often used for testing (it was in fact the setting for this year's pre-season sessions). The teams therefore know him well, even if a lot has changed on a technical level since the last visit two months ago…

THE CIRCUIT FROM THE TIRES' POINT OF VIEW

 The teams will bring their latest developments, which could affect the behavior of the tires compared to the tests.
 In pre-season tests the gap between medium and soft was 1,5 seconds. There will probably be a smaller difference during the GP.
 The left front leg is subjected to greater stress.
 Probable more than one pit stop given notoriously high wear and degradation.
 Teams race with high downforce, adding vertical and lateral loads to the tires.
 On the Tuesday and Wednesday after the race, Renault and Toro Rosso will test 2018-oriented Pirelli prototypes during tire testing.

MARIO ISOLA – CAR RACING MANAGER
“This is the last race in which Pirelli decides the allocations for the teams: from Monaco, the drivers will choose the quantities of each compound to use. Although Barcelona is a very well-known track, the aerodynamic evolutions of the cars, obtained with the latest upgrades brought by the teams in Spain, will translate into an increase not only in performance and perhaps also in the level of degradation compared to the tests. Temperatures will also be higher than those seen in February."

WHICH NEWS'
• The hard compound makes its debut for the 2017 season.
• Last race with identical allocation for everyone: seven sets of the softest compound available for this GP, 4 sets of the medium compound, 2 sets of the hard compound.
• Many teams will bring evolutions, more or less advanced, to their single-seaters.