Pirelli’s head of car racing, Mario Isola, says 2017 Formula 1 cars have “phenomenal potential” following two weeks of pre-season testing.
Alongside new aerodynamic rules for the up-coming season, F1 has also introduced 25% wider Pirelli tyres, which have contributed significantly to the quicker speeds seen in testing.
Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen put in the quickest time of testing on the final day, lapping the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the super-softs in 1:18.634s, just a few tenths slower than the best ever lap of the current layout, set by Felipe Massa in 2008.
Isola said the work completed during the second test focused more on performance and race simulations, while a number of results from the first test were confirmed.
“During the eight days of pre-season testing, we’ve fulfilled most of the objectives that we had targeted,” he said.
“This week we confirmed the results of last week’s test, particularly with regard to the fast recovery of the tyres if they overheat, which was a particular wish of the drivers for the 2017 compounds.
“Compared to the general work we saw last week these last four days were more geared towards performance and race simulation in preparation for the season ahead.
“The target of being five seconds faster than the 2015 times in Barcelona was already met last week and now that benchmark has been lowered further.
“Considering that many of the best times were set on compounds that are not particularly suited to Barcelona, and that the cars are sure to evolve rapidly over the course of the season, this indicates the phenomenal potential performance of the new generation of Formula 1, which we can say produces the fastest cars that the sport has ever seen.”
