Pirelli confirm in-season test schedule

27 comments on “Pirelli confirm in-season test schedule”

1. 

   tonyyeb (@tonyyeb)
   7th March 2014, 14:36

   Silly question but are teams allowed to test new car parts too or are they restricted to just tyre testing?
   1. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      7th March 2014, 15:51

      @tonyyeb The rules don’t say anything specific about what kind of parts they can use however they do stipulate that the tyre supplier will decide the run plan for the car and state that certain information gained must be shared with other teams. Details here:

      https://www.racefans.net/2013/12/12/fia-overhauls-rules-on-testing/#inseasontesting
2. 

   Dragon (@dragon88)
   7th March 2014, 14:41

   Other silly questions: are these tests – as I imagine they are – open to the public?
   1. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      10th March 2014, 9:48

      @dragon88 Silverstone say they haven’t confirmed yet whether theirs will be. Don’t know about the others.
3. 

   Andrea
   7th March 2014, 14:42

   Another silly question, what’s the point of a in-season test… in November?
   1. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      7th March 2014, 17:53

      That is an easy one – to prepare the tyres for next season Andrea!
   2. 

      Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
      7th March 2014, 18:55

      Also – young driver test? The teams’ young drivers can drive the others mid-season, leaving the last one as another little money spinner..
4. 

   Brian (@bealzbob)
   7th March 2014, 15:38

   Don’t be too hard on yourselves guys. They’re not silly questions at all. They’re good questions :)
5. 

   @HoHum (@hohum)
   7th March 2014, 15:41

   Another silly question. Can’t they just make a decent tyre at the beginning of the season and let the teams work out how best to use it without altering it throughout the year?
   1. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      7th March 2014, 15:57

      @hohum It’s easy to snipe at them but this is a brand new generation of car which they’ve only had 12 days of running with so far. Back in the days of unlimited testing teams would spend weeks a year on tyre testing and frequently change compounds. So I don’t think the provision for each of them to test tyres one day per year are at all unreasonable, especially given the nonsense we had last year with teams testing in secret because Pirelli didn’t have access to a current car. And not forgetting Pirelli’s brief to provide tyres which can’t last a race distance.
      1. 

         @HoHum (@hohum)
         8th March 2014, 3:46

         @keithcollantine,@bascb,@keeleyobsessed, I am not sniping at Pirelli, I know it is not their fault and I have previously said so ad nauseum, my point is in a year with with so many changes to the cars why must the regulators persist with making the teams run inferior tyres with no durability, we’re going to have enough real challenges for the teams to deal with, we don’t need artificial ones, so why not let Pirelli build a good durable tyre like Bridgestone used to that the teams can master quickly and not have to worry about on top off worrying about their PU overheating and running out of fuel. The drivers don’t need any more reasons to have to drive slowly.
         1. 

            BasCB (@bascb)
            8th March 2014, 10:55

            I really don’t see any reason to take the fact that they will be able to actually test how the tyres work as an indication that Pirelli is not doing that @hohum.

            Its far more to do with keeping an eye on where the cars are heading with tyre usage as the season develops, because once the teams get a grip on the basics, its pretty much a certainty that they will begin adding downforce, so Pirelli must be prepared to possibly take the harder tyres to make sure they last!
            1. 

               @HoHum (@hohum)
               8th March 2014, 13:34

               @bascb, I may be wrong but I understood that in the past the tyre companies got all the information they needed by analysing the tyres after the races, what new information are they going to get from these test sessions that racing wont provide? Always assuming of course that these tyres are not going to self destruct during the races.
            2. 

               BasCB (@bascb)
               8th March 2014, 17:19

               Yeah, in the past tyre suppliers got their feedback from endless testing rather than from the races @hohum. The feedback from races can point to problems or potential issues or advantages, but they need the more controlled environment of a test to really get into what is causing it/how to solve or react to it.
            3. 

               @HoHum (@hohum)
               8th March 2014, 18:15

               @bascb, was that true when there was a single supplier or only when there were competing tyre suppliers?
            4. 

               BasCB (@bascb)
               9th March 2014, 19:13

               Bridgestone only stopped intensively testing when the teams cut back testing @hohum (for the same reasons Pirelli were not able to test – no car to do it with). Then they made both the soft and harder compounds hard enough that they were reasonably sure that each would last a whole race to avoid any embarresments.
   2. 

      KeeleyObsessed (@keeleyobsessed)
      7th March 2014, 16:18

      They are providing a decent tyre this year. The tests are to ensure that they are providing a decent tyre this year and to help them provide a decent tyre for next year. Maybe if people were to stop giving them such a hard time when they take the best steps to fix any problems they have they would realise how well Pirelli are adapting to this new situation..
   3. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      7th March 2014, 17:26

      I am sure Pirelli intend to do that @hohum. But reality will prove to be different, and on top of that as the teams develop the cars, its possible that Pirelli needs to react.
      And then there is the matter of testing tyres for NEXT year, would be good to get that done in time too, so that teams will know what to work on for the 2015 tyres early.
6. 

   Brian C (@bcracing)
   7th March 2014, 17:59

   Is it an advantage testing earlier in the season or later? On one side I can see an early test helping a team get a better understanding of their car for the season but a late season test could be what’s needed for a team to make an extra development push for the championship. Did they get to choose what test they’re going to?
7. 

   Jake (@jleigh)
   7th March 2014, 18:49

   Silly question, but won’t the teams testing first gain an advantage? Even if they share info with others teams, surely any running of the car is an advantage.
   1. 

      US_Peter (@us_peter)
      7th March 2014, 18:57

      All else being equal, simply putting mileage on the car proofs reliability of parts. It seems a shame that the two strongest looking teams Mercedes and Williams will both be part of the first test, while the three least reliable teams so far won’t get to do the test for a further three months. I’d be curious how the order of teams was chosen. I hope Pirelli did something to draw team names completely at random.
      1. 

         BasCB (@bascb)
         8th March 2014, 10:52

         I guess its a sort of compromise to let these teams use their testing for working on their own issues before “forcing” them to sacrifice a day to only getting mileage
8. 

   effone
   7th March 2014, 22:42

   @us_peter

   The tyre testing will take place within the existing in-season tests. Each team will devote one of its two days at one of the tests to conducting tyre development work for Pirelli

   All the teams will be engaged in testing on the dates listed in the article therefore when Mercedes and Williams do normal testing on April 8 and Pirelli testing on April 9 the other teams (except Caterham) will actually gain an advantage by having 2 normal testing days. Notice that Red Bull is not giving up a day of normal testing to Pirelli until July 9.
9. 

   JohnNik (@johnnik)
   8th March 2014, 0:01

   It seems pointless to me asking Renault engined teams to test earlier in the season. At least with the Merc engined teams they can expect some mileage lol.
10. 

    JohnNik (@johnnik)
    8th March 2014, 0:01

    It seems pointless to me asking Renault engined teams to test earlier in the season. At least with the Merc engined teams they can expect some mileage lol.
11. 

    Mashiat (@)
    8th March 2014, 3:17

    Silly question, but isn’t Pirelli a Food Coloring Company?
12. 

    SauberS1 (@saubers1)
    9th March 2014, 23:56

    Will test only Caterham in Bahrain?

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