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The Paul Ricard circuit, which will host the returning French Grand Prix next year, is being reported as a potential destination for pre-season testing in 2018, mainly due to its wet surface facilities allowing for rain simulation as well as tyre firm Pirelli's close familiarity with it.
The Circuit de Catalunya was the venue for the eight days of 2017 testing that concluded on Thursday, and the track is known to be favoured by the teams for its warm climate - even in winter - and because it is among the most easily accessible of circuits. Despite this, however, it is less than ideal for wet weather tests, as Pirelli found out when it had to bring in tankers to cover the track in water.
Whilst this did allow the teams to run their cars successfully on the extreme wet and intermediate tyres, questions arose as to why Paul Ricard was not used instead - since it is equipped with specialist sprinklers for this exact purpose. In response to these, Pirelli motorsport boss Mario Isola suggested the company could put the French venue forward as a 2018 testing candidate to make wet running easier.
"We use Paul Ricard a lot for testing, like GT and GP2, as well as wet testing," Isola said. "We know this circuit well and we are happy to go there but if you are talking about pre-season tests, the weather could be worse."
The prospect of Paul Ricard hosting tests could be strengthened by the fact that teams generally prefer to use circuits featured on the calendar to make their data more relevant - and it is, as previously mentioned, scheduled to return next season.
The wet weather test that Pirelli held in Barcelona was due to run through a complete day, but teams were only able to complete a few laps while the track was at its wettest as the warmer Spanish temperatures dried it quickly after brief periods in the morning and afternoon. Despite this, Paul Hembery believes that Pirelli has managed to collect the data necessary to allow it to modify its wider and larger 2017 tyres for best performance.
Mason Hawker
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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