2016 Spanish Grand Prix – Practice Sessions
P ZERO ORANGE HARD MAKES ITS 2016 DEBUT WHILE P ZERO YELLOW SOFT HAS ITS FIRST SPANISH GP APPEARANCE
LAST YEAR’S POLE TIME ALREADY BEATEN IN FP1
DETAILED ANALYSIS TOGETHER WITH RENAULT IS STILL ONGOING FOLLOWING TYRE FAILURE FOR PALMER IN FP2
The 2016 P Zero Orange hard compound was seen for the first time in anger today, during free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. Not only that, but the P Zero Yellow soft tyre was also seen for the first time in the history of the Spanish race, where Pirelli is the title sponsor once more this year.
In line with the pattern seen at other races so far this season, lap times came down massively compared to 2015: last year’s pole time was already eclipsed in FP1. At the very start of FP2, Jolyon Palmer’s Renault had a tyre deflation. Detailed analysis of this issue is still ongoing.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “The European part of the season starts with one of the toughest tests of all at Barcelona, which the teams know well from pre-season testing. With higher temperatures now, graining has been reduced. While the soft tyre shows a lot of pace here, the medium tyre has performed strongly as well, and looks set to be a very good race tyre judging from what we have seen on the long runs so far.”
| FP1 – TIMES | FP2 – TIMES | ||||
| 1. Vettel | 1m23.951s | Soft new | 1. Rosberg | 1m23.922s | Soft new |
| 2. Raikkonen | 1m24.089s | Soft new | 2. Raikkonen | 1m24.176s | Soft new |
| 3. Rosberg | 1m24.454s | Medium new | 3. Hamilton | 1m24.641s | Soft new |
FP1 – BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
| HARD | Ricciardo | 1m26.405s | |
| MEDIUM | Rosberg | 1m24.454s | |
| SOFT | Vettel | 1m23.951s | |
FP2 – BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
| HARD | Sainz | 1m27.112s | |
| MEDIUM | Hamilton | 1m25.607s | |
| SOFT | Rosberg | 1m23.922s | |
LONGEST STINTS OF THE DAY
| HARD | Sainz | 17 (laps) | |
| MEDIUM | Wehrlein | 23 | |
| SOFT | Rosberg | 17 | |
Tyre statistics of the day:
| Hard | Medium | Soft | |
| kms driven * | 804 | 3411 | 1582 |
| sets used overall ** | 19 | 54 | 24 |
| highest number of laps ** | 23 | 28 | 21 |
* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined. ** Per compound, all drivers combined.
Minimum prescribed tyre pressures: 21.5 psi (fronts) 19.5 psi (rears)
Pirelli fact of the day: Of the 25 races held in Barcelona, 18 have been won by the driver on pole position and 23 have been won from the front row, underlining the importance of tomorrow’s qualifying session. The lowest-ever winning grid position has been P5, which is where Fernando Alonso started before he won in 2013 with Ferrari (his most recent victory).
Spotted in the paddock: Acclaimed Brazilian-British model Alice Dellal, who was at a Williams-Martini event at Port Vell in Barcelona together with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, where she was announced as an official race photographer for Martini. Dellal is best-known as the face of Chanel and the body of Agent Provocateur, but is also a keen photographer.
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