Paul Hembery: “The Nurburgring is one of the most technical circuits we face all year, with a lot of lateral energy going through the tyres, and this makes strategy very important. Although they sit next to each other in our range, there is still a significant difference between the P Zero Yellow soft and the P Zero White medium tyre, as we saw on the last occasion that this combination was used at the Grand Prix of Europe in Valencia. The biggest difference will be the weather, which could be a lot cooler than the conditions we saw in Spain. This means that we expect most of the teams to adopt a two-stop strategy, unless of course it rains, in which case anything is possible. On Friday, the teams will be evaluating a new version of the P Zero Yellow soft tyre. It’s not a big change from the current specification, but it is designed to fit in line with our latest versions of the P Zero Silver hard tyre and P Zero White medium, both of which are a little harder than their original specification in order to reduce degradation. There’s no decision yet on when we might use the new tyre yet, but it will be very interesting to hear all the feedback from the teams.”
Timo Glock (Virgin Racing): “I have quite a lot of experience of racing at the Nurburgring as I have been there many times. It’s a really enjoyable track to drive at and I have very good memories as I won a couple of races there. Pirelli have made Formula One even more exciting so I’m looking forward to racing at this track with the P Zero tyres. In general I think the track is not very demanding on the tyres. It’s quite technical and has a very interesting first section. The Mercedes Arena gives you a good possibility to overtake during the race and there are a couple of quick corners that are also very interesting, so it will be good fun and I can’t wait to race in front of my home crowd.”
