SUPERSOFT TYRES MAKE THEIR 2012 DEBUT IN MONACO

What’s the story?

Milan, May 21, 2012 – The softest compound in Pirelli’s Formula One range – the P Zero Red supersoft – makes its first appearance of the year at the famed Monaco Grand Prix circuit: the slowest, tightest but also most prestigious race of the season. Alongside it, the P Zero Yellow soft has also been nominated.

With the street circuit relying almost exclusively on mechanical grip, it is ideal territory for the supersoft – which benefits from a rapid warm-up time and is capable of generating very high levels of traction and cornering forces. This is particularly important during qualifying: with so few opportunities to overtake in Monaco, being as far up the grid as possible is even more important than usual. For the same reason, race strategy has a profound effect. It is often easier to make up positions in the pits through an effective strategy rather than by passing on the track. Tyre wear and degradation is the lowest seen all season, making a one-stop strategy a distinct possibility for some teams. As Monaco is a street circuit, there is a high degree of track evolution over the course of the race weekend, which lasts for one day longer than anywhere else as free practice takes place on Thursday with the circuit is open to normal traffic again for much of Friday. This consequently affects the amount of rubber that is found on the surface for qualifying.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director says:

Paul Hembery: “Monaco is a highlight of the season and a place where our supersoft and soft tyres have provided plenty of entertainment in the past. Last year, we had three drivers on three different strategies set for a grandstand finish – before a red flag got in the way. The supersoft is the only compound that remains unaltered from last year, as it proved to be so effective on circuits like Monaco, but of course the profile has been re-designed to better suit the 2012 regulations. With the wear rate being so low in Monaco, the drivers will be able to push at their hardest from start to finish. Tyre strategy will be very important in Monaco, where on-track overtaking is more difficult than anywhere else. Having said that, the Principality has a history of often springing a surprise. With the cars so evenly matched now, even the slightest advantage or smallest mistake can have a big impact on the final outcome of a race, as we’ve seen so far this season.”

The men behind the steering wheel say: 

Jenson Button (McLaren): “Monaco is a very special place. It’s probably the grand prix track where the sensation of speed is at its greatest, particularly during your first laps on a Thursday morning, when it just seems unreal to be controlling 750bhp through the narrow winding streets of the Principality. But it’s also a place where you find a groove and a rhythm like nowhere else and, before, too long, it feels very comfortable to be reeling off fast laps and pushing the back end out around the corners. Monaco will be the first time this season that we’ll have used Pirelli’s supersoft compound, and I’m really looking forward to it. Obviously, we’ll start the weekend using the soft compound tyres, but when we first switch to the supersofts, I know the car’s going to feel very different. As always, it’s going to be fascinating to discover how the tyres react and behave across the weekend – particularly at a place where qualifying will be crucial – but I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

Pirelli’s test driver says: 

Lucas di Grassi: “Like many drivers I live in Monaco, but you need to work so accurately with the car balance and set-up for the race, that even if you drove on the roads every day it would give you no advantage at all. Monaco is one of the most complex races of the year, as you need to be so precise on every lap. Most people don’t realise just how bumpy the circuit is too, so there is a lot to consider when it comes to finding the right set-up and the best way to get the most out of the tyres. With the tyre nominations that Pirelli has made, there are plenty of opportunities for some very different strategies, as we saw last year. So far it’s been a fantastic season, but also I think there are some drivers who should have won by now who haven’t: anything can happen in Monaco. That’s just one of the things that makes it such a fascinating race.”

Technical tyre notes: 

• The track surface is the least abrasive of the year, and added to the slow average speed (including the slowest hairpin bend on the calendar, taken at just 47kph) this leads to a very low level of tyre wear. The soft tyres are capable of lasting for 50 laps or more, making a one-stop strategy entirely realistic – although McLaren’s Jenson Button used a three-stop sprint strategy to finish on the podium last year.

• The tight and twisty confines of the circuit, with no run-off area, have an important effect on race strategy. With a high risk of incidents that can bring out the safety car, the teams need enough flexibility in their strategies to be able to adapt to changing circumstances.

• The brakes are used heavily in Monaco, and this transmits heat to the tyres that adds to the stress placed on the structure. Going into Sainte Devote, for example, the cars lose 160kph in just 100 metres. The tyres are also heavily challenged at the swimming pool complex. They hit the kerbs at more than 200kph, generating a lateral force of 3.65g.

The tyre choices so far:

Pirelli in Monaco:

• Apart from Sebastien Vettel’s success last year, Pirelli’s most high-profile event in the Principality has been the Monte Carlo Rally, which the Italian firm has won 13 times. The most recent triumph came in 2010, with Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen winning comfortably in a Ford Fiesta S2000.

• Pirelli’s commercial presence in Monaco is handled by Pirelli France. Based near Paris, Pirelli France has around 100 employees. The company is the third tyre manufacturer in France in terms of brand awareness.

• Pirelli has an extensive programme of activities for GT owners in France, such as the P Zero Experience: top quality track days held on the best circuits in France. There is also the P Zero by Night Experience: regularity rallies run at night for gentlemen drivers, attracting up to 80 cars at a time.

• Pirelli France is also actively engaged in rallying, supporting almost 100 young drivers through the Pirelli Trophee. In total, Pirelli France’s engineers are present at more than 25 rally weekends per year.

Other news from Pirelli: 

• Monaco will host the GP2 Series together with the GP3 Series for the first time in the circuit’s history, giving the stars of the future the chance to shine in front of the most influential people in Formula One. This creates a big logistical challenge for Pirelli’s fitting crews, who will be fitting around 3100 tyres in total in the cramped confines of the paddock over the weekend.

• A new recipe book with a difference will be launched in the Pirelli Motorhome at the Monaco paddock on Wednesday evening at 1800, inspired by the cuisine that has made Pirelli’s kitchen legendary. Some special driver guests will also be on hand to try out some of the recipes.

• The first gravel event of the Italian Rally Championship took place the week before the Monaco Grand Prix: the Rally dell’Adriatico. The Italian firm used its K series Scorpion rubber, which uses similar technology to the tyres that had a failure rate of less than 0.02% when Pirelli was sole supplier to the World Rally Championship from 2008-2010. Pirelli driver Paolo Andreucci claimed another victory to reinforce his lead of the championship.

• Pirelli recently released its 2011 annual report in Milan. As well as presenting all the facts and figures about the company’s performance last year, the book is also designed as a work of art. The drawings were made by renowned Dutch illustrator Stefan Glerum and there are contributions from some of Europe’s leading writers and academics.

• Pirelli’s test driver Lucas di Grassi took part in the Nurburgring 24 Hour race the weekend before the Monaco GP, driving a McLaren MP412C running on Pirelli tyres. It was di Grassi’s debut at the endurance classic, but he was unlucky: his team mate crashed the car on Saturday evening and the crew were forced to retire.

Milan, May 21, 2012 – Pirelli has nominated the P Zero slick compounds that will be used for the forthcoming races in Montreal, Valencia and Silverstone.

For the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, the teams will use the P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft tyres. At the Grand Prix of Europe in Valencia, the teams will have the P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft at their disposal. Finally, for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Pirelli will bring the P Zero Silver hard and P Zero Yellow soft.

Montreal’s street circuit is tight and twisty, making it ideally suited to the two softest compounds in Pirelli’s range – as will be used in Monaco next weekend. Valencia is also a street circuit, but higher temperatures and faster speeds mean that the medium and the soft tyres are most suitable. Silverstone is one of the quickest circuits of the year, so the nomination of hard and soft – with a full step in between the two compounds – will showcase both the durability and performance of Pirelli’s products, while opening up many different possibilities in terms of strategy.

The 2012 rules stipulate that under normal circumstances each team will receive six sets of the harder compound and five sets of the softer compound for the race weekend, which can now be used at any point from free practice one on Friday onwards. Pirelli will also bring its Cinturato Green intermediate tyre for damp track conditions (four sets per driver) as well as the Cinturato Blue rain tyre (three sets per driver) to each race).

The tyre choices so far:

Maldonado qualified on pole, but was passed by Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, who made his first pit stop on lap 11. The biggest winner from the first stint was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who went from last to fourth before switching to the hard tyres on lap 14.

With cooler conditions of 23 degrees centigrade ambient and 32 degrees track temperature, the working range of the P Zero Silver hard tyre came into its own, making it the favoured option for most teams to race on. The other nominated tyre, the P Zero Yellow soft, offered a significant performance advantage, and was used mainly for qualifying and the beginning of the race, with every driver starting on the soft tyre.

The key to Maldonado’s victory was when he made his second stop two laps sooner than Alonso for the hard tyre, which enabled him to put in some quick laps and get past the Ferrari which pitted for the second time on lap 26. From then on, he was able to control his advantage with a three-stop strategy, which was also adopted by Alonso. After his final stop, Maldonado ran the P Zero Silver tyre for 25 laps to take victory by 3.1 seconds as he and Alonso raced to the finish on the hard tyre. Both drivers started on the soft tyre, and then used three sets of the hard tyre.

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third, also made good use of the hard tyre during his final 18-lap stint to close up on the leaders over the last 10 laps, having made three stops. By the end of the race, he was less than a second behind Alonso. Raikkonen used a different strategy to the two drivers in front of him, using the soft tyre twice at the beginning of the race and then completing two stints on the hard tyre.

By contrast, Hamilton was the only person to use a two-stop strategy to finish eighth – a result that was decided on the final lap – from 24^th and last on the grid, after his original pole position time was cancelled for a rules infringement.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel finished sixth after four pit stops, including one drive-through penalty, and retains the championship lead jointly with Alonso. This is the closest start to a season since 1983 – which was also the last time a Venezuelan scored world championship points, thanks to Johnny Cecotto. Maldonado now becomes Venezuela’s first grand prix winner.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “With Pastor Maldonado starting from the front and Lewis Hamilton starting from the back, this was always going to be a fascinating race, and thanks to the tyre strategy as well, it certainly delivered. Maldonado and Williams were quick right from free practice on Friday, having consistently got the most out of both tyre compounds all weekend. The final 10 laps were a fantastic duel between him and Alonso, with less than a second separating them, on similar strategies. Both drivers showed their tyre management skills perfectly, managing to avoid falling off ‘the cliff’ despite pushing hard for the race win. The tyres contributed to an extremely entertaining and tense race, but as official supplier we will always follow the wishes of the teams and the promoter and our future development direction will be dictated by what they want. For the sport, we believe that it’s fantastic to have five races, five winners and five cars – especially when it is as well deserved as the victory that we saw from Pastor and Williams today.”

PIT STOP SUMMARY – 2012 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

The first column denotes the tyres the driver started the race on.
S = Soft compound
H = Hard compound
N = New compound
U = Used compound
NC = Not classified
DT = Drive Through
The last column gives the total amount of pit stops.

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Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 684 4307 francescopaolo.tarallo@pirelli.com
(Head of Product and Motorsport Communication)

Pastor Maldonado claimed second on the same tyre: the Venezuelan’s best-ever qualifying result and the highest grid placing for Williams since the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Qualifying started with a track temperature of 40 degrees centigrade, which was slightly higher than qualifying in Bahrain two weeks ago. This only added to the energy put through the tyres by corners such as turn three: the longest and fastest corner of the whole Circuit de Catalunya.

With most of the teams looking at three stops tomorrow, and three sets each of the harder and softer compounds available as usual for qualifying and the race, tyre management was an important consideration from the very beginning of qualifying.

Maldonado was the first driver to switch to the soft tyre halfway through qualifying one, topping the time sheets to underline the pace he had shown since the beginning of the weekend. Both Red Bull drivers completed one run on the soft tyre towards the end of the first session.

All the drivers used the soft tyre during Q2. Most drivers went out on used softs to keep a fresh set for the final top-10 shoot-out, but while Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi qualified in the top 10 he was unable to take part in qualifying three due to a mechanical problem: meaning that it was a fight for the top nine.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was the first driver on track in Q3, completing a lap on soft tyres but not setting a time, while Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher went out on hard tyres and also did not set a time. The aborted laps from Vettel and Schumacher means that they will be able to start the race on whichever compound they like, as will Kobayashi.

Vettel was fastest during the final free practice session this morning, setting a time of 1m23.168s using the P Zero Yellow soft tyres, with the Sauber drivers also topping the time sheets for much of the session.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “Strategy was at the forefront of qualifying today, with a gap of around 0.8 seconds between the hard and the soft tyres, depending on the team. Historically, Barcelona is a race that has nearly always been won from the front row of the grid, but now drivers that have qualified lower down the grid still have a possibility to challenge for victory. There were some surprising eliminations in Q2; however these drivers will feel the benefit of having more fresh tyres, so it will be interesting to see what they can do with them. As Barcelona is so demanding on every aspect of the dynamics of a car, including tyre management, it is normally a very good indicator of the likely form for the rest of the year. With the teams so closely matched this season, and the upgrades introduced at Mugello beginning to take effect, it’s going to be very hard to predict a winner for tomorrow. Particular congratulations to Pastor Maldonado and Williams – who have consistently got the most out of the tyres throughout the weekend so far.”

Tyres used by the top ten qualifiers:

Hamilton: Soft
Maldonado: Soft
Alonso:  Soft
Grosjean: Soft
Raikkonen: Soft
Perez:  Soft
Rosberg: Soft
Vettel:  no time set
Schumacher: no time set
Kobayashi: no time set

Jenson Button set the fastest time during the second session this afternoon, with a time of 1m23.399 on the soft tyre. As expected, temperatures remained dry and warm for both the hour and a half sessions, allowing the drivers to experience the sort of conditions that they are likely to encounter during qualifying on Saturday. For the race, a risk of rain showers has been initially forecast.

With Barcelona being one of the circuits that places heavy demands on the tyres, the teams used the two free practice sessions to assess wear and degradation rates on different fuel loads, and also to establish a base set-up that will suit their likely strategies. With many teams having introduced upgrades at the recent Mugello test, free practice in Barcelona was also another opportunity to see how these worked in conjunction with the 2012-specification Pirelli tyres.

For the first time, there is an entire step in between the two compounds that have been nominated by Pirelli for the race. With a lap time difference of just over a second between the two compounds, strategy will be even more important during the race, putting an emphasis on the data collected by the teams during free practice today.

In the morning session, the teams concentrated exclusively on the P Zero Silver hard before moving onto the P Zero Yellow soft tyre in the afternoon with some further use of the hard compound. The fastest time in free practice one was set by Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso with a benchmark of 1m24.754s.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “It was a very important session today for all the teams, as they aimed to gather as much information as possible in order to prepare their race strategies, which are going to have a big influence on the final outcome of the race. Barcelona is well known for a notable degree of tyre wear thanks to long and fast corners such as turn three, and although we still have plenty of data to analyse, it seems that the frontrunners will be likely to adopt a three-stop strategy. However, with a wider gap between the two nominated tyres than usual – both in terms of compound and performance – we could see some quite different strategies that are capable of springing a surprise. And of course if the rain showers that some people are predicting for Sunday materialise, then the race will take on an entirely new and unexpected complexion. With many of the teams introducing new developments in Spain, it almost feels like we are starting the season from scratch again.”

Tomorrow (Saturday) Paul Hembery will be taking part in a live online chat from the Spanish Grand Prix at 6.00pm local time (+1 hour CET), together with Pirelli test driver Jaime Alguersuari, who has been recently testing Pirelli’s latest development tyres at Jerez in the south of Spain. To join in and stream on your own website please visit: http://streamingf1.pirelli.com/share/
To watch, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Pirelli/app_234658916574732

PIRELLI NUMBERS OF THE DAY:

Sets used overall:

Hard  53
Soft  25
Intermediates 0
Wet  0

Highest number of laps per compound:

Hard  17
Soft  18
Intermediate 0
Wet  0

PIRELLI FACT OF THE DAY:

Last year, a four-stop strategy proved the key to success for Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel: the only race other than Turkey (which also contains high-speed, high-energy corners) where this was the case. Pirelli nominated the hard and soft tyres last year in Barcelona as well, but this year’s compounds are softer across the board: the 2012 hard compound is similar in character to last year’s medium. However, the teams have plenty of experience of running the 2012 Pirelli tyres in Barcelona through pre-season testing. The final test held in March was dominated by Lotus, which went quickest on three out of the four days, using the P Zero Yellow soft tyre.

The teams were allowed to use whichever tyres from their testing allocation of 100 sets per car per year remained to them, trying out all the slick compounds, including some runs on the supersoft during the final day. The allocation of 100 tyres also includes the young driver test at the end of the year.

Heavy rain on the opening day also meant that the drivers got the chance to test the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue full wet, but the bad conditions limited the amount of overall running on day one. The weather was much better on Wednesday and Thursday, allowing teams to complete their test programmes, which were aimed at evaluating aerodynamic and other upgrades, as well as increasing their understanding of the 2012 Pirelli tyre range.

Many of the third drivers also got to sample the current Pirelli tyres for the first time at Mugello: a circuit that tests every parameter of a tyre’s performance, thanks to the wide variety of speeds and corners contained within the lap. Mugello has quite an abrasive surface, with long medium to high-speed corners as well as a tight hairpin bend and several quick changes of direction.

The fastest lap of the test was set by Lotus Romain Grosjean on Thursday, using the P Zero Silver hard tyre to post a time of 1m21.035s. By way of comparison, the lap record for Mugello, which dates from 2004, is 1m18.704s – set using different regulations and different tyres.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “With so few testing opportunities available over the course of the year, this was a valuable chance for the teams to expand their knowledge of the characteristics of our tyre range, as well as try out different upgrades before the European season begins next weekend. This is traditionally a time when teams introduce new parts, and with the competition now being closer than it has ever been before, understanding how the tyres interact with the latest car developments will be key to establishing an advantage. The opening day at Mugello was something of a wash-out, but the teams were able to complete some longer runs over the last two days with our medium and hard tyres in particular, enabling them to collect plenty of useful data. This will be extremely valuable when it comes to planning race strategy in future.”

Testing facts:
The teams completed 405 laps on day one, 1005 laps on day two and 1134 laps on day three. This is approximately equivalent to 43 grands prix.

Ambient temperatures ranged from 13 to 24 degrees centigrade over the three days test, while track temperatures ranged from 15 to 37 degrees centigrade.

Testing numbers:
Total number of sets brought to Mugello: 366 sets
Of which Supersoft tyres: 25 sets
Of which Soft tyres: 50 sets
Of which Medium tyres: 107 sets
Of which Hard tyres: 118 sets
Of which Intermediate tyres: 35 sets
Of which Wet tyres: 31 sets

Total amount of sets used: 207
Of which Supersoft tyres: 3 sets
Of which Soft tyres: 20 sets
Of which Medium tyres: 69 sets
Of which Hard tyres: 92 sets
Of which Intermediate tyres: 15 sets
Of which Wet tyres: 8 sets

Longest run:
16 laps on the Hard compound
14 laps of the Medium compound
13 laps on the Soft compound
6 laps on the Supersoft compound

Tyre summary:
Day 1
1. Alonso: 1’22’’444 on Hard New
2. Webber: 1’23’’648 on Medium Used
3. Vergne: 1’23’’891 on Medium New

Day 2
1. Grosjean: 1’21’’603 on Hard New
2. Kobayashi: 1’21’’603 on Soft New
3. Vettel: 1’21’’825 on Hard New

Day 3
1. Grosjean: 1’21’’035 on Hard New
2. Vettel: 1’21’’267 on Medium New
3. Alonso: 1’21’’363 on Hard Used

For further information please contact:
Alexandra Schieren +33 607 03 69 03 alexandra.schieren@pirelli.com

Anthony Peacock +44 7765 896 930 anthony@mediatica.co.uk
***
Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 684 4307 francescopaolo.tarallo@pirelli.com
(Head of Motorsport and Product Communications)

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For Pirelli though, Mugello has a much more recent significance, as it was where the company’s prototype Formula One tyres first took to the track in August 2010, less than two months after the Italian firm’s three-year agreement as exclusive Formula One tyre supplier was confirmed by world motorsport’s governing body, the FIA.

On that occasion, Nick Heidfeld was at the wheel with Toyota’s TF109 test car. Now, all but one of the Formula One teams will visit the central Italian track for three days of testing, a large part of which will be aimed at further understanding how the 2012 Pirelli P Zero tyres behave. In particular, they are likely to focus at optimising car balance with all the different compounds, as well as looking at different aerodynamic upgrades and how they interact with the tyres. Many of the teams will also be running their third drivers for the first time this year at the Mugello test.

Pirelli will bring all four slick compounds to Mugello – supersoft, soft, medium and hard – but the teams will only be able to use the tyres that are left to them out of their testing allocation of 100 sets of tyres per car per year. It is down to them to decide which compounds they would like to use within that allocation. The Cinturato intermediate and wet weather tyres will also be available at Mugello in case of rain.

Mugello, close to Florence, has never hosted a Formula One race but is well known for sportscar, touring car and motorbike races. The 5.245-kilometre track has 15 corners and an extremely long straight, which will allow the cars to reach top speeds in excess of 335kph. The first part of the circuit features plenty of direction and elevation changes, with the final part of the lap containing longer and faster corners that will be particularly useful when it comes to analysing tyre behaviour and performance.

All the cars use the tyres in different ways, which is why the tyres do not always behave in the same way on all the cars. Generally speaking, the supersoft tyre is the easiest to warm-up, operating at around 95 degrees centigrade. The soft tyre, which is still biased towards performance, works at 105 degrees. The medium tyre has improved consistency while maintaining high levels of grip and operates at 115 degrees. Finally, the hard tyre works at about 125 degrees, with less ultimate grip but plenty of performance stability. All these figures are approximate – and there is a wide temperature window during which they are working at their best – but they give an idea of the key differences between the compounds, which has been an important element of unlocking car performance this year.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “The Mugello test will be very important when it comes to understanding the way in which the tyres work, and I’m sure that the teams will take away plenty of information that will allow their knowledge of the tyres to evolve as the season continues, which was exactly the case last year. As much as a battle between the drivers, it’s a technological battle between the engineers as well, which is one of the many fascinating aspects of this sport. As well as accumulating more data, this test is also a valuable opportunity for some of the third drivers to get time in a Formula One car on the current tyres, which would be very difficult under normal circumstances. With the closest start to the championship that we have seen for a very long time, the competition has never been tighter – and the teams will be keen to take every advantage that they can from the next three days before the European season starts. For us, it’s nice to be going back to a track close to home, where the story of our latest Formula One campaign all began…”

For further information please contact:
Alexandra Schieren +33 607 03 69 03 alexandra.schieren@pirelli.com

Anthony Peacock +44 7765 896 930 anthony@mediatica.co.uk
***
Francescopaolo Tarallo +39 334 684 4307 francescopaolo.tarallo@pirelli.com
(Head of Motorsport and Product Communications)

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The German driver started off using the P Zero Yellow soft tyre, and then moved onto the P Zero White medium after 11 laps before completing his final stints on the P Zero Yellow soft followed by the P Zero White medium.

Bahrain is one of the most demanding circuits of the year in terms of tyre degradation, due to a frequently dirty track and several low to medium speed corners that ask a lot from the rear tyres in terms of traction.

As a result, knowing how to manage the tyres and contain thermal degradation was a vital skill throughout the 57-lap race, although the grand prix started in comparatively cool conditions with gusting winds and track temperatures of around 32 degrees centigrade.

Most drivers selected a three-stop strategy, but Force India’s Paul di Resta opted for a two-stop strategy. The Scot made his final set of medium tyres last for 24 laps before ending up sixth, having started from 10th on the grid after not completing a qualifying run in Q3 in order to save tyres. Di Resta finished just behind Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who chose to do just one run in Q3 to conserve an extra set of softs.

Lotus GP driver and former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen started 11th on the grid after missing out on Q3, but this also meant that he saved several fresh sets of tyres for the race. The Finn used these to good effect, challenging Vettel for the lead from the halfway point on the race, when Raikkonen was on the medium tyre and Vettel on the soft. During their final stints, after they both stopped on the same lap, both drivers used the medium compound. Having brought the tyre up to temperature, Vettel was able to pull away from the Lotus driver, but Raikkonen closed back up to him in the closing stages after conserving the tyres at the beginning of the final stint.

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher also used a three-stop strategy to climb back up the field, finishing in the points after having to start 22nd on the grid following a gearbox change penalty.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “This was certainly a very technicallychallenging race, on a circuit that we had never experienced in racing conditions before. Nonetheless, we chose to bring our soft compound together with the medium in order to provide plenty of opportunities for strategy. Although degradation was a factor in this race, which was already evident from the tactics adopted in qualifying, the tyres stood up extremely well to the demands that were placed on them. During the closing stages of the race, the priority for the drivers was to ensure that the tyres didn’t fall off ‘the cliff’ of performance: a task that they all managed very well. The closeness of the racing this year, during which we have narrowed the performance gap between our compounds, is reflected in the fact that we’ve seen four different winners in four races. It was also a great result for Lotus with two cars on the podium – and the first podium for our former test driver Romain Grosjean, who was with us when we tested at Bahrain in 2010: the experience was clearly useful to him. As for Kimi, he seems to have made the transition from our rally tyres to our P Zero race tyres pretty well!”

PLEASE SEE ATTACHED PDF FILE FOR PIT STOP SUMMARY

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As expected, temperatures were dry and warm during qualifying at the Sakhir circuit, which challenges the rear tyres in particular as they have to generate traction on a wide variety of medium-speed corners, which are frequently made dirty by sand on the track. This meant that lap times improved dramatically as qualifying went on during the afternoon, which caused some big surprises as teams judged the compromise between saving tyres and posting competitive enough times to get through.

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was the first of the top runners to move onto the P Zero Yellow soft tyre in Q1, with the fastest time set by Sauber driver Sergio Perez.

All the drivers apart from Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg started Q2 on the soft Pirelli tyre, while Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen – who did an excellent job to put the team into the second session for the first time – completed just one run at the end on the P Zero White medium tyre.

The Red Bulls and McLarens went out for two runs in Q3, using the soft tyres on each occasion. Vettel claimed pole on his final run, clinching it by less than a tenth of a second from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg completed just one run at the end on the soft tyre to qualify fifth, while Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified in a career-best sixth. Alonso and Di Resta did not set a time and will start ninth and 10th respectively, with a choice of compounds to begin the race with.

During the final free practice session this morning, Michael Schumacher was the first Mercedes to go fastest on the soft tyres, followed by his team mate Rosberg, who set the fastest time of 1m33.254s, just ahead of Vettel.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “We’ve seen a great job from Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, who demonstrated their ability to get the most out of the tyres by extracting every last bit of performance from the softer compound. With the whole field having closed up considerably in terms of pure pace this year, every single advantage that any driver finds is magnified – which means that tyre strategy becomes all the more important. That strategy also influences qualifying, with about 18-20 laps expected for the soft tyres in race conditions and 23-25 laps for the medium tyres. We can expect three stops for most of the leading runners, although some may try two depending on which compound they favour. Degradation is more or less where we expect it to be, given track temperatures in excess of 45 degrees centigrade. In terms of the speed differential between the tyres, we’re still expecting 0.6-0.8 seconds between the two compounds or maybe a bit less. Tyre degradation is certainly going to be an important factor in the race tomorrow, but managing the tyres correctly presents another important opportunity for this extremely talented grid of drivers to demonstrate their skills.”

Tyres used by the top ten qualifiers:

Vettel: Soft

Hamilton: Soft

Webber: Soft

Button: Soft

Rosberg: Soft

Ricciardo: Soft

Grosjean: Soft

Perez: Soft

Alonso: no time set

Di Resta: no time set

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The Sakhir circuit reverted to the original layout that had last been used in 2009, before a longer loop was added for the 2010 race between turns four and five. This gives the circuit a faster and more flowing configuration, with 15 corners as opposed to 23, which puts the emphasis on traction as well as the front-left tyre in particular.

A typical hallmark of Bahrain is the sand that blows onto the track from the surrounding desert, and this was very much in evidence during the first free practice session this morning: although to a lesser extent than many of the teams had anticipated. The effect of the dust is to make the cars slide more, which increases thermal degradation and slows down the lap time. McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton set a fastest time of 1m33.572s in the middle of the hour and a half morning session, using the Pirelli P Zero White medium tyres. The Force India team was the only team to use the P Zero Yellow soft tyres in the morning, placing third with Paul di Resta and sixth with Nico Hulkenberg.

Temperatures climbed progressively during the day, with the second free practice session in the afternoon starting with 31 degrees centigrade of ambient temperature and 40 degrees track temperature. As the session went on the track temperature fell again after reaching a peak, when Rosberg set his fastest time. These are the conditions that are likely for qualifying and the race, meaning that all the teams ran both compounds extensively during free practice two in order to accumulate as much data as possible.

Williams driver Pastor Maldonado was the first to switch onto the P Zero Yellow soft tyres, 20 minutes into the second session, followed progressively by the other runners. With half an hour to go, many teams concentrated on long runs with high fuel: some splitting the work by running one car on soft tyres and the other on medium tyres, to cover every possibility.

Rosberg once again demonstrated his ability to get the most out of his P Zero tyres at the peak of their working range, setting a fastest time that was nearly half a second faster than the next-quickest driver, Red Bull’s Mark Webber.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The sand on the track – a phenomenon that we are well aware of, following our tests in Bahrain in the past – limited the useful running in the morning, but it was a much busier session in the afternoon with all the teams running both compounds in order to make up for any lost time earlier. The teams will all have been looking closely at the effect of track temperature on performance, which is going to form an integral part of their strategy for qualifying and the race, as well as monitoring degradation. From what we can see so far the pace of both compounds is around 0.6 seconds apart and degradation is in line with expectations. But we still have a lot of data to go through tonight before we can accurately predict how long the stints are likely to be on each tyre, as this is the first time that we are here in race conditions.”

Tomorrow (Saturday) Paul Hembery will be taking part in a live online chat from the Bahrain Grand Prix at 6.00pm local time (+1 hour CET). To join in and stream on your own website please visit: http://streamingf1.pirelli.com/share/

To watch, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Pirelli?sk=app_371372936221033

Pirelli numbers of the day:

Sets used overall:

Medium 55

Soft 25

Intermediate 0

Wet 0

Highest number of laps per compound:

Medium 15

Soft 16

Intermediate 0

Wet 0

Pirelli fact of the day:

Hot races and fast circuits may appear to push the P Zero tyres to their limits, but the tyres are actually subjected to much greater loads during laboratory testing. The tyres are accelerated up to 450kph, submitted to vertical forces in excess of 1000 kilograms, heated up to 150 degrees centigrade and fired into kerbs at 260kph. These energy loads are all around four times greater than what can be realistically expected, and the tyres are subjected to them for up to 20 times longer than they would normally.

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