Pirelli is still searching for a full answer over the characteristics of its new P Zero tyre compounds after the opening pre-season gathering of the year in southern Spain, with the track surface at the Circuito de Jerez proving more abrasive than usual.
Although the Spanish venue - which was last resurfaced back in 2005 - provided the basic tyre performance trends that the Italian manufacturer had been expecting, it has not been able to draw 'proper conclusions' after the first four days of track action.
"The four days spent at Jerez, with most teams running their new cars, gave us all a good general impression of the characteristics of our 2013 tyres on track, with completely new compounds and construction," Pirelli's Motorsport Director, Paul Hembery, said of the first test week. "It seems that we are very much on the right road and the changes we wanted to see are all there: the tyres are faster than their equivalents last year, and they have a wider window of peak performance.
"Conditions at Jerez were not ideal this year, however, as it was an extremely abrasive track - the most abrasive of all the circuits we visit all year - and consequently it was hard to draw any proper conclusions, given that the surface had actually become even more abrasive than last season."
Having amassed plenty of Hard and Medium compound data this week, Hembery is hoping for more mileage on the Soft and Super Soft rubber at the upcoming tests.
"We came away with plenty of data for the Hard and Medium tyres, very little for the Soft tyre and none for the Super Soft," Hembery commented. "Now we look forward to the next two test sessions at Barcelona, which will provide another very valuable opportunity for the teams to extend their knowledge of this year’s tyres."
The Circuit de Catalunya, located to the north of Barcelona, will host the final two pre-season tests from 19-22 February and 28 February to 3 March respectively.
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