Second day of Pirelli F1 test in Abu Dhabi
By Lee Catuzzi
The second and final test on the new Pirelli tyres ended today in the beatiful settings of the Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi.
Yesterday Felipe Massa was the quickest with World Champion Sebabstaina Vettel second.
Today Ferrari dominated again with Fernando Alonso doing 1:40:529 followed closely by Michael Schumacher by 0.156.
“Overall, I am quite happy with the behaviour of the tyres,” Alonso said. “They are not too different to the previous manufacturer [Bridgestone] so in a way I think it will be a very smooth transition with no big drama.”
Yesterday hints were dropped by Rosberg in relation to the fact that that Mercedes was still not achieving top speed with the new tyres and the car was actually worse than before.
Schumacher today, has definitely shown the opposite and a glimpse of his old self.
“For the first step, from what we have seen here, I feel positive about the tyres,” Schumacher said when asked if the new tyres will suit him better.
Vettel was at the track again with its title winning RB6 and manage to finish third fastest. “There is still a lot to do, but I think the tyres are already better than expected,” said the German.
“Since February we haven’t really had time to do any in-depth testing on track, so these two days have given us a chance to reflect on things we have tried during the season.”
Newly re-signed Rubens Barrichello was fourth fastest with its Williams after completing 101 laps while evaluating different braking systems.
Robert Kubica struggled with some understeer but managed 5th fastest. A good exchange of data with Pirelli should give the French Team a good start for the February tests.
Things went well at McLaren too where british drivers Oliver Turvey and Gary Paffett were separated by barely a tenth of a second, finishing six and seventh fastest.
Lotus had a positive day too with Jarno Trulli replacing Heikki Kovalainen on the second day, “It’s been a very positive day,” he said. “It was good to try the Pirelli tyres for the first time and while we have obviously got a lot of work ahead of us I think this was a good start.
Force India tested with Paul di Resta and Tonio Liuzzi and concentrating mainly on weighting distribution aero setting and general balance as well as tyres.
Sauber had both their 2001 line up drivers at disposal with Kobayashi in the morning and Perez in the afternoon. Both drivers experienced some technical problems but achieved some good data gathering for the season ahead.
Jaime Buemi, replaced team mate Alguersari in the Toro Rosso doing 98 laps in total, achieving the tenth fastest position.
Overall quite a good response from most of the drivers on the tyres that will be used from next season.
Pirelli’s last season in a single seater was 20 yers ago.
With all the data that Pirelli has accumulated in these two day test they will develop the tyres that will then be used for the F1 pre-season tests which will start next February.
There will be four of such tests before the 2011 season starts in Bahrain on 13 March.
The first three tests are in Spain, on 1-3 February at the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia, 10-13 February at Jerez and 18-21 February at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
The final test will be in Bahrain a week before the first race, from 3-6 March.
Pos. Driver Car Best Time Laps
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:40.529 105
2 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:40.685 74
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:40.825 66
4 Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:41.294 100
5 Robert Kubica Renault 1:41.614 91
6 Gary Paffett McLaren 141.622 46
7 Oliver Turvey McLaren 1:41.740 30
8 Paul di Resta Force India 1:41.869 35
9 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:42.110 43
10 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 1:42.145 98
11 Tonio Liuzzi Force India 1:42.416 46
12 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:42.777 46
13 Jarno Trulli Lotus 1:44.521 83
14 Pastor Maldonado HRT 1:44.768 65
15 Timo Glock Virgin 1:44.783 82
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