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Formula One’s
new era got underway with four days of testing at Jerez (to be followed by
two more four-day sessions in Bahrain next month) with teams trying out
their new cars and the 2014 tyres for the first time.
With such a revolutionary series of technical changes, running was
considerably limited compared to last year, and very little tyre work was
carried out.
Nonetheless, the teams were able to have their first taste of Pirelli’s 2014
tyre range, which features new compounds and constructions. The teams could
also try out the new Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue wet on
the second day, which was designated as a wet-weather test day. More rain
then fell on Friday, providing another opportunity.
Pirelli additionally brought a bespoke ‘winter’ version of the hard tyre to
Jerez, designed to enable teams to maximise running even in low ambient
temperatures (which dipped down to six degrees centigrade).
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director:
“The emphasis was not on tyres during this test: instead the teams were
simply trying to get an understanding of this radical new set of regulations
and put the first kilometres onto their cars. With so much to understand
about the new power units and aerodynamic rules, the teams aimed simply to
increase their knowledge about the cars. The upcoming tests in Bahrain
should allow them to focus on tyres a little more, having had two weeks to
develop their cars and remedy any issues that have been identified at Jerez.
We too are completely open, flexible and ready to adapt our tyres should the
tests in Bahrain, where more meaningful running will take place, identify
any need to do so. This year’s test regulations stipulate a day of wet
weather running, which we were able to carry out on Wednesday morning. With
more rain falling on Friday, the teams had the opportunity to try out the
wet-weather compounds before using them in race conditions.”
Testing Facts:
The opening day of running was extremely quiet, with just 93 laps completed
from eight drivers and cars on Tuesday. The on-track action then ramped up,
with teams attempting longer runs. The final day was the busiest day of the
test, with 688 laps completed.
Teams had a maximum of 25 sets of tyres each at their disposal for Jerez. In
total, 18 of those sets were selected by Pirelli (six ‘winter’, four hard,
two medium, and three each of intermediate and wet). The teams were then
allowed to choose in advance seven more sets of tyres to test per car, up to
their total maximum of 25. In total, 135 sets of tyres are allowed per team
for testing purposes throughout 2014.
Owing to the huge number of new variables at work, and the very wide spread
of lap times seen throughout the four days, there was no real significance
in the time difference between the compounds that were tested at Jerez. More
meaningful tyre data should be seen in Bahrain, with all the teams expected
to be present.
More Testing Facts:
A total of 22 drivers took part in the Jerez test, completing 1,470 laps and
6,509 kilometres.
The equivalent
Jerez test last year took in 3,531 laps and 15,634 kilometres.
McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen set the fastest time of the Jerez test, with
a time of 1m23.276s on Thursday. By way of comparison, the fastest time at
the Jerez test last year was 1m17.879s, set by Felipe Massa in a Ferrari.
The highest number of total laps completed at this year’s Jerez test by any
one driver was Nico Rosberg, who racked up 188 laps with Mercedes. |
Testing numbers:
· Total number of sets brought to Jerez: 250 sets
which equals 1,000 tyres
- of which supersoft tyres: 2 sets
- of which soft tyres: 9 sets
- of which medium tyres: 52 sets
- of which hard tyres: 52 sets
- of which ‘winter’ tyres: 69 sets
- of which intermediate tyres: 36 sets
- of which wet tyres: 30 sets
· Total amount of sets used: 99
- of which supersoft tyres: 1 sets
- of which soft tyres: 2 sets
- of which medium tyres: 23 sets
- of which hard tyres: 11 sets
- of which ‘winter’ tyres: 32 sets
- of which intermediate tyres: 20 sets
- of which wet tyres: 10 sets
· Longest run:
10 laps on the supersoft compound
9 laps of the soft compound
17 laps on the medium compound
24 laps on the hard compound
23 laps on the ‘winter’ compound
26 laps on the intermediate compound
13 laps on the wet compound
· Highest / lowest ambient temp over four days: 17 °C / 5 °C
· Highest / lowest track temp over four days: 23 °C / 6 °C
Testing Times:
Day 1
1. Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1’27’’104s on Winter compound, New
2. Hamilton (Mercedes) 1’27’’820s on Winter compound, Used
3. Bottas (Williams) 1’30’’082s on Winter compound, Used
Day 2
1. Button (McLaren) 1’24.165s on Medium, New
2. Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1’24’’812s on Medium, Used
3. Bottas (Williams) 1’25’’344s on Winter compound, New
Day 3
1. Magnussen (McLaren) 1’23’’276s on Medium, New
2. Massa (Williams) 1’23’’700s on Hard, Used
3. Hamilton (Mercedes) 1’23’’952s on Medium, New
Day 4
1. Massa (Williams) 1’28’’229s, on Hard, New
2. Alonso (Ferrari) 1’29’’145s, on Medium, Used
3. Juncadella (Force India) 1’29’’457s, on Soft, New |
