Pirelli: Paul Hembery's comment after the end of the winter tests

The last Formula One pre-season test session ended today at the Circuit de Catalunya. The four days of testing saw alternating rain and dry conditions: this allowed the teams to test the entire range of Pirelli's new F1 tyres, including the Cinturato Green intermediate and the Cinturato Blue wet.
Montmelò, where the second test session also took place last week, is a circuit well known by the teams. This should make it easier for the teams to collect information and compare all the compounds in order to find the right integration with the single-seaters.

Statements from the tests:

Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: “It was a useful test session, even if the weather conditions were cold and therefore not very representative of what we will see over the course of the year. The degradation was very high because for most of the tests the tires did not work in their ideal working range. However, we also had the same conditions during pre-season testing last year, so we're not too worried.

The rain on the first two days provided the teams with a valuable opportunity to evaluate the intermediate and wet tyres, which this year have been developed to provide greater traction, and to study crossover points.
Overall, everyone was satisfied with our wet tyres, which shows that our work has paid off.

As this was the last test session, it was useful for the teams to test the full range of tyres. Now Australia awaits us, in just two weeks, and there our tires will run in their normal working range. We hope to see an exciting race with two or three pit stops per car.”

News from the tests:

Teams are allocated 100 sets of tires per year for testing. For the last test session in Barcelona the teams had 35 available.
For the first Grand Prix of the season, in Australia, supersoft and medium tires will take to the track. For this reason, the Teams focused on these two compounds, even if most of the work concerned the P Zero White medium since Barcelona is not a circuit suitable for supersofts.
The last test session was also run with low temperatures: the ambient temperature reached 18 degrees in the last two days of testing. In the first two days, characterized by rain, the ambient temperatures did not exceed 10 degrees centigrade.
The fastest test time, set by Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg on day four (1'20''130) on a new set of soft tyres, was significantly faster than last week's test benchmark, also on Montmelò, and about a second and a half faster than the best time from last year's Barcelona tests.
Some teams concentrated on aerodynamic testing of the new components brought in, while others carried out race simulations, especially those with new drivers, as well as qualifying simulations with the supersoft tyres.
Other news from the tests:

Once again, the difference between the slick tires was in the order of half a second per lap, confirming the results seen in last week's Barcelona test. However, in Australia, the performance gap is expected to be slightly larger.
The teams also evaluated cross-over points in wet conditions and carried out pit stop tests.
Since the weather was not always favourable, this test session put the versatility of the car-tyre package to the test. Barcelona pushes the single-seaters to race in a wide variety of conditions, putting all the technical aspects of the car to the test, thanks to a very demanding circuit layout, which contains every type of corner. The tires on the left side of the car are particularly stressed, due to the high amount of energy released in the right-hand corners as well as in turn three.
So far, 36.970 kilometers have been covered in pre-season testing.
Most laps in Barcelona: Rosberg, Mercedes, 251 laps; Alonso, Ferrari, 222 laps; Hamilton, Mercedes, 230 laps.
Numbers from tests:

Total number of sets brought to Barcelona: 451 which corresponds to 1.804 tyres. Of which:
– supersoft tyres: 35 sets
– soft tyres: 119 sets
– medium tyres: 123 sets
– hard tires: 112 sets
– intermediate tires: 38 sets
– wet tyres: 24 sets
Total number of sets used: 363. Of which:
– supersoft tyres: 22 sets
– soft tyres: 104 sets
– medium tyres: 119 sets
– hard tires: 63 sets
– intermediate tires: 34 sets
– wet tyres: 21 sets
Longest runs:
19 on hard tyres
30 on medium tyres
19 on soft tyres
14 on supersoft tyres
47 on intermediate tires
48 on wet tyres
Minimum/maximum ambient temperatures over the four days: 6° C (4th day) / 18° C (3rd and 4th day)
Minimum/maximum track temperatures over the four days: 8 °C (1st/2nd/3rd day) / 26 °C (4th day)

Test times: 1st day 1. Webber 1'22''693 Soft New 2. Hamilton 1'24''348 Medium New 3. Vergne 1'25''017 Medium New 2nd day 1. Grosjean 1'22' '716 Soft New 2. Button 1'23''181 Medium New 3. Maldonado 1'23''628 Soft New 3rd day 1. Hamilton 1'20''558 Soft New 2. Massa 1'21''266 Supersoft New 3. Sutil 1'21''627 Soft New 4th day 1. Rosberg 1'20''130 Soft New 2. Alonso 1'20''494 Soft New 3. Button 1'21''444 Soft New