Formula One’s incoming tyre supplier Pirelli, has completed a five-day test in Bahrain to bring its total private mileage to over 10,000km – not including the official two-day test in Abu Dhabi.
Pedro de la Rosa and Romain Grosjean were at the wheel of the Toyota TF109 to conclude the Italian manufacturers 2010 testing program.
The latest focused on refining both compounds based on feedback provided by the teams, however the test didn’t quite go to plan as a sandstorm temporarily halted running for two-days.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented on the weeks work: “I think this goes to show that, wherever you are in the world, uncertain weather can arrive in a variety of forms. But Formula 1 is all about expecting the unexpected, and we were able to quickly react to these changing circumstances by extending our test.
“With the extra time we had, we were probably able to put in a little bit more work than we had originally planned, so everything worked out very well in the end. We ran through our entire dry tyre range, and to have reached the point where we are at now, just five months after the F1 tyres ran for the very first time at Mugello in August, is an incredible testimony to the commitment and capability shown by every member of our team.
“We ran two drivers in order to compare two different sets of feedback, and the fact that they were both saying the same positive things at the end of the test only underlines the progress that we have made. There’s still some work to do, but we can head into 2011 with confidence.”
