Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery is confident that a step in the compound allocation will keep the teams on their toes in Barcelona next weekend.
The Italian tyre supplier has opted to bring the soft and medium compounds, which is unusual because there is a gap between the two. The first four races have either seen the soft and medium paired together or the medium and hard, but Hembery believes the gap will result in a variety of different strategies.
“We’ve nominated the soft and hard tyre in order to highlight performance differences that will create a different challenge for the teams, showcasing both the speed and durability of our products,” he said.
“There is a whole step in between our two nominations for the first time this year and this should allow the teams to come up with a number of different tyre strategies that could make a big difference to the final outcome.”
Hembery believes the race will be a closely fought one, and one that may just result in a fifth different race winner.
“The weekend should present something of a contrast to the last pre-season test in Barcelona, where low ambient temperatures meant that it was difficult to get heat into the tyres! This time we’re expecting warmer weather, which only adds to the many challenges that the tyres will face here.
“With many teams having expanded their knowledge of our tyre range and tested new components at Mugello, we’re expecting a closely-fought Spanish Grand Prix – and maybe even the fifth different winner in five races,” he added.
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