Formula One returns to Europe for what is traditionally a key race: the Spanish Grand Prix. The Montmelo circuit is familiar to the teams and they frequently use the return to Europe to introduce significant car upgrades, designed to improve performance and increase downforce. This often adds to the demands placed on the tyres at what is already a high-energy circuit because of the fast, sweeping corners that put extreme forces through the tyres. As a result, Pirelli will bring the two hardest compounds in the Formula One range.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: "It's often said that Barcelona provides the most accurate representation of the form a season will take, because a car that performs well in Barcelona should perform well everywhere. The same is true of the tyres, because the Spanish circuit is one of the most demanding circuits we race on all year. Long and fast corners such as Turn Three put a huge amount of energy into the tyres, as a result of which degradation is high. The track surface is also quite abrasive, and ambient temperatures can be high, which increase the workload on the tyres further. In the past we've seen up to four pit stops in Spain. With the changes we have made to the tyres this year, we would now hope to see no more than three for the majority of drivers. We made a solid start to our preparations for next year with the first dedicated in-season tyre tests in Bahrain. We're looking forward to building on that work with four teams in Spain after the grand prix."
Jean Alesi, Pirelli consultant: "For the tyres, Barcelona is one of the hardest circuits of the year. The surface is quite abrasive but the main thing is all the fast corners that you accelerate through, which take a lot out of the rear tyres in particular. So this means that having the right set-up is absolutely essential to control degradation. If you don’t do that, you end up destroying the rear tyres and you lose pace very quickly. The other problem becomes braking and acceleration: with worn tyres it also takes longer to brake and find traction out of the corners. It will be interesting to find out how the cars are at Barcelona this year: in theory, with less downforce, it should be less tiring for the drivers than it was in the past. But we have to see which upgrades the teams bring as well."
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