All the Formula 1 teams are preparing to take part in the second and final 2022 pre-season test session which will start tomorrow, Thursday 10 March, and then end on Saturday 12.
The teams, after having carried out important tests for data collection in the three days of testing in Barcelona, are ready to whip their respective cars in view of the start of the season that will take place next week with the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir.
The last tests will be held in Sakhir. These will not only be important for the teams, but also for Pirelli. The Italian manufacturer of tires for the world championship circus will be able to see the new ground effect single-seaters really push hard on the new 18 “tires that have already made their debut at Montmelò.
For the Sakhir test that will start tomorrow, Pirelli brought no less than 6 slick compounds, therefore when dry, and the usual two for wet and wet asphalt. However, there will be a novelty compared to the Catalan tests concerning one of the six dry compounds.
Here’s how to recognize dry and wet compounds
- Pirelli PZero C1 White: the harder compounds will be recognizable because they will have white writing, but will not have any colored band on the shoulders.
- Pirelli PZero C2 White: recognizable precisely by the white band on the shoulders, in addition to the usual white writing that accompanies the shoulder.
- Pirelli PZero C2 PROTO: this is the big news of these tests. This compound, which is prototype and made by Pirelli’s Turkish factory, will serve to be compared to the standard one. It will be recognizable because it will have neither writing nor bands of any color on the shoulders. It will be totally black.
- Pirelli PZero Yellow C3: it will be the only one to show the yellow color between the writing and the shoulders, therefore the easiest to recognize even if in the first test it was the subject of discussion as it is not easy to recognize if combined with the black circles with the red stripe used by Red Bull on the RB18.
- Pirelli PZero Red C4: easy to recognize because it will be distinguished by writing and a red band on the shoulders
- Pirelli PZero Red C5: the softer compound of the 2022 range proposed by the Italian manufacturer will only have the red writing that will distinguish it from the C4.
The tires for wet asphalt remain unchanged:
- Pirelli Cinturato Intermedie they will be recognizable by the band and the green writing on the shoulders.
- Pirelli Cinturato Full WetExtreme wet tires will still be distinguishable by the blue band and lettering on the shoulders.
Allocation for teams, pressures and temperatures
Each team will be able to take advantage of 35 sets of dry tires, 2 of Intermediate and 2 of Full Wet (tires for extreme wet). Among these, however, 30 sets of tires plus 2 additional ones can be used to test PROTO tires (without band or writing on the shoulders).
It is important to remember that for the first grand prix of the season, the Bahrain Grand Prix, which will be held in Sakhir, Pirelli has decided to bring the 3 hardest compounds in its range, therefore C1, C2 and C3, which will be distinguishable respectively as Hard (white), Medium (yellow) and Soft (red). This is why the teams could focus more on this type of compound, while also having C4 and C5 available, the softer ones in the 2022 range.
Pirelli also provided the minimum pressures of the three types of tires that it will bring to Bahrain, therefore the dry, intermediate and extreme wet tires:
Minimum pressures of the slicks
Front: 22.5psi
Rear: 20.5 psi
Minimum pressures of the Intermediates
Front: 22.5psi
Rear: 20.5 psi
Minimum Full Wet pressures
Front: 21.5psi
Rear: 19.5 psi
Maximum camber
Front: -3.50 °
Rear: -2.00 °
To conclude, Pirelli also provided the warm-up times and temperatures of the types of tires it will bring to Sakhir and throughout the season.
Dry tires (70 °, maximum 3 hours)
Intermediate tires (60 °, maximum 2 hours)
Extreme wet tires (40 °, maximum 2 hours)
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