Moving ahead in Pirelli’s return to the FIA Formula One World Championship, driver Nick Heidfeld has completed a two-day tire test behind the wheel of a Toyota TF109.
The recently hired Heidfeld sampled prototype versions of the company’s planned P Zero Formula One tire, which will be used by all the Formula One teams from 2011 onward under a three-year sponsorship agreement.
The objective of the test, held under mostly dry and sunny conditions at the Mugello circuit in Italy, was to begin the process of determining the front and rear tire profile and construction that will be used as the basis for the new design.
“This was the first step of our return to Formula One, and we are very satisfied with how the tires performed and the information we were able to collect,” says motorsports director Paul Hembery. “We concentrated on finalizing the profile and the construction of the front and rear tires, which is a process that we will continue over the next few tests that we carry out,” he reports.
“Mugello has quite an abrasive surface with long and medium-high-speed corners as well as hairpins and quick changes of direction, so it is quite a good proving ground,” notes Hembery. “We are on target and we come away from this test with lots of data to analyze, which is exactly the situation we hoped to be in.”
Pirelli’s testing program began less than two months after the pact to become the sole Formula One World Championship tire supplier was finalized.
“A lot of people have made a big commitment to get to where we are today in a very short period of time, and the effort really has been incredible,” says Hembery. “The Toyota team has also been very professional and provided a good, reliable car and we are all very happy to begin our relationship with Nick Heidfeld, who gave us a lot of good feedback and suggestions.”
The tire development program is an ongoing endeavor, continuing later this month.
For more information, visit www.us.pirelli.com.
