P ZERO ORANGE HARD MAKES ITS 2016 DEBUT WHILE P ZERO YELLOW SOFT HAS ITS FIRST SPANISH GP APPEARANCE
20.05.2016
The 2016 P Zero Orange hard compound was seen for the first time in anger today, during free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. Not only that, but the P Zero Yellow soft tyre was also seen for the first time in the history of the Spanish race, where Pirelli is the title sponsor once more this year.
In line with the pattern seen at other races so far this season, lap times came down massively compared to 2015: last year’s pole time was already eclipsed in FP1. At the very start of FP2, Jolyon Palmer’s Renault had a tyre deflation. Detailed analysis of this issue is still ongoing.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “The European part of the season starts with one of the toughest tests of all at Barcelona, which the teams know well from pre-season testing. With higher temperatures now, graining has been reduced. While the soft tyre shows a lot of pace here, the medium tyre has performed strongly as well, and looks set to be a very good race tyre judging from what we have seen on the long runs so far.”
FP1 - TIMES FP2 - TIMES
1 Vettel 1m23.951s Soft new 1 Rosberg 1m23.922s Soft new
2 Raikkonen 1m24.089s Soft new 2 Raikkonen 1m24.176s Soft new
3 Rosberg 1m24.454s Medium new 3 Hamilton 1m24.641s Soft new
FP1 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
Hard Ricciardo 1m26.405s
Medium Rosberg 1m24.454s
Soft Vettel 1m23.951s
FP2 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
Hard Sainz 1m27.112s
Medium Hamilton 1m25.607s
Soft Rosberg 1m23.922s
LONGEST STINTS OF THE DAY
Hard Sainz 17 laps
Medium Wehrlein 23
Soft Rosberg 17
Minimum prescribed tyre pressures: 21.5 psi (fronts) 19.5 psi (rears)
Pirelli fact of the day: Of the 25 races held in Barcelona, 18 have been won by the driver on pole position and 23 have been won from the front row, underlining the importance of tomorrow’s qualifying session. The lowest-ever winning grid position has been P5, which is where Fernando Alonso started before he won in 2013 with Ferrari (his most recent victory).
Spotted in the paddock: Acclaimed Brazilian-British model Alice Dellal, who was at a Williams-Martini event at Port Vell in Barcelona together with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, where she was announced as an official race photographer for Martini. Dellal is best-known as the face of Chanel and the body of Agent Provocateur, but is also a keen photographer.
Source: Pirelli
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