No worrying degradation according to Pirelli

Designed to degrade faster than last year's rubber, wouldn't the new Pirelli tires wear out too quickly? In any case, that?s what it seems to emerge after the first two test sessions. Some rumors go so far as to double the number of pit stops in Melbourne compared to last year.

According to Paul Hembery, technical director of Pirelli, the significant wear encountered so far is not representative due to unsuitable weather conditions: “The teams experienced a fairly high degradation in Barcelona, ​​and it was mainly a weather issue. The conditions we had in Barcelona were far from typical of the rest of the season, with a much cooler atmosphere and track temperatures that we don't normally encounter in racing, and even a bit of rain on the last day. This put the tires outside of their usual working conditions, leading to problems such as graining. »

The winter weather encountered in Spain would therefore be the cause of premature tire wear: “The conditions were particularly unsuitable for ultra-soft tires, due to the topology of the circuit and the abrasiveness of the track, in addition to the cool temperatures. Added to the fact that the teams are still in the process of adjusting the set-ups of their new cars, that they are testing the full range of our tires in order to optimize the whole, we have seen the levels of degradation which are not representative . Once in Melbourne the tires will be within their intended operating range, avoiding the unusual degradation that some teams have experienced. »

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