Formula 1India In F1

Juncadella tests new compounds for Force India despite off-track excursions

Barcelona, 14 May 2014: The second in-season test of the year took place after the Spanish Grand Prix, working on testing structures and compounds for 2015. Sauber and Toro Rosso tested on the first day, with Force India and McLaren taking over throughout day two.

With the first day mostly wet, just the new intermediate compounds were tested in the morning. In the afternoon, with the test timetable having been altered to maximise dry running, some of the prototype slicks for 2015 got their first outing at the Barcelona circuit. The focus on the opening afternoon was on new constructions, with around half the anticipated programme completed.

On the second day, held in dry conditions with trac

Force India backdrop at the Malaysian GP. An India in F1.Image
Force India backdrop at the Malaysian GP. An India in F1.Image

k temperatures peaking in excess of 40 degrees centigrade, new constructions as well as compounds were tested with McLaren and Force India. McLaren completed the programme with Stoffel Vandoorne, who then went on to set his fastest time of the day on the current 2014 medium tyre, as the team ran some of their own tests, a procedure allowed by the current regulations. Daniel Juncadella tested for Force India, but was not able to finish the anticipated work due to delays and off-track excursions.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “With rain affecting the first day of testing, the programme was put slightly out of kilter from the beginning, but this is something that you obviously expect and factor into your plans. It was also a good opportunity to try out some new intermediate weather tyres for next year. Once the weather became drier, we were able to focus on the new 2015 slick tyres. Following the test in Bahrain, we’re now beginning to build up a good picture of where we stand going into next year, so there is plenty of useful data to analyse heading into the next in-season test after Silverstone.”

Testing facts:

The first day of testing saw rain and very low temperatures with a maximum of 11 degrees centigrade air temperature and with track temperatures never going over 20 degrees centigrade.

The fastest time set throughout the two days of the test was a 1m24.871s set by Pastor Maldonado on the supersoft tyres in the closing hour of the second day.

Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne who had a technical problem in the morning of day one only ran a total of 52 laps, whereas Guido Van der Garde in the Sauber managed to run 86 laps. Both were hampered by the bad weather conditions.

Today, Stoffel Vandoorne in his first day ever in a Formula One car, ran an impressive 136 laps on the Pirelli experimental tyres. Daniel Juncadella, in a Sauber, also did well, doing 91 laps.

As well as running on experimental tyres, the teams that were not testing specifically for Pirelli ran with the current tyres. Teams are allowed an overall maximum total of 135 sets of tyres for testing this year, including the in-season tests.

The next in-season test will take place after the British Grand Prix. Ferrari and Lotus will test for Pirelli on the opening day, followed by Red Bull and Marussia on day two. The final in-season test will be held in Abu Dhabi, after the race, where teams will have the first opportunity to sample the brand new 2015 tyre range.

Testing times:

Day 1

Chilton Marussia 1.26.434s Supersoft New
Pic Lotus 1.26.661s Soft New
Hamilton Mercedes 1.26.674s Medium New
Raikkonen Ferrari 1.26.965s Soft Used
Vergne Toro Rosso 1.27.724s Prototype
Hulkenberg Force India 1.27.727s Medium New
Massa Williams 1.27.756s Medium New
Button McLaren 1.28.333s Medium New
Kobayashi Caterham 1.30.101s Medium New
Buemi Red Bull 1.31.440s Hard New
Van der Garde Sauber 1.31.783s Prototype

Day 2

Maldonado Lotus 1.24.871s Supersoft New
Rosberg Mercedes 1.25.805s Medium New
Raikkonen Ferrari 1.26.480s Soft New
Gutierrez Sauber 1.26.972s Soft New
Wolff Williams 1.27.280s Soft New
Bianchi Marussia 1.27.718s Soft New
Vettel Red Bull 1.27.973s Medium New
Juncadella Force India 1.28.278s Prototype
Vandoorne McLaren 1.28.441s Medium New
Kvyat Toro Rosso 1.28.910s Hard New

eom/Pirelli press release

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