F1 | Pirelli with over 3500 tires in the pre-season tests in Barcelona

Pirelli will bring over 3.500 tires to Barcelona for the first eight days of testing (27 February-2 March, then again 7-10 March) with the 2017 single-seaters. As is known, from August to November 2016 Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari have conducted tests with the 2015 single-seater mule cars modified to simulate the greater levels of aerodynamic load expected following the new 2017 technical regulations.

For all the other teams, who have received and shared every technical data produced by the tests with the mule cars, the one in Spain will be the first contact with the new 2017 widened tyres. The tread width goes from 245 to 305 mm for the 'front; from 325 to 405 at the rear. As we know, the diameter of the rims remains unchanged: 13".

WET TEST. The test also includes a wet track day, to focus on the 2017 tires with intermediate and full wet tread, which so far it has been possible to test to a limited extent. The date of these specific tests is set for March 2, the last day of the first test session, but could be changed if, following a meeting with the Teams, a risk of rain on one of the three previous days was assessed.

AVAILABLE COMPOUNDS. All slick compounds will be present in Barcelona, ​​as well as - as mentioned - intermediate and full wet tyres. Compounds, as we remember, are completely new this year, just as the constructions introduced are new. All with the aim, shared with the FIA ​​and the Teams, of bringing tires with a higher level of performance accompanied by less degradation to the track, in order to allow the drivers to drive aggressively in every phase of the race .

HOW MANY/WHICH COMPOUNDS. A total of 810 sets of 2017 tires were requested by the teams. This is the breakdown by compound:

Hard 23 trains
Medium 263
Soft 287
Supersoft 74
Ultrasoft 51
Intermediate 67
Wet 45

BACKU OPTIONP. The Spanish tests will also allow testing of tires with compounds defined as backup. These are tires with 2016 compounds and construction, which Pirelli keeps available for any needs limited to particular circuits or conditions, in case lower loads and performances emerge this year than theoretically expected.
There are a total of 70 sets of backup tires requested by the teams.