Mario Isola, Head of Car Racing – “After an uncertain start with bad weather last week, pre-season testing eventually turned out to be very productive with more representative conditions this week, just as we expected.
The teams were able to comfortably complete more than 100 laps each per day, helping them to prepare for the season ahead and gather information on the 2018 tyre range.
Of the P Zero slick tyres, all the compounds were tried out from the hard to the new Pink hypersoft, with a new all-time lap record established on the hypersoft.
During the final day of testing last week, wet conditions that eventually dried out enabled the teams to also assess the wet-weather tyres and crossover points. The biggest change was the fact that the track has been resurfaced this year, making it smoother with more grip. Most importantly of all though, the teams are satisfied with the data that they have collected.
From our side we now also have a good idea of the performance differences between the compounds at this point of the season, with around 0.7 seconds between the ultrasoft and the hypersoft, which corresponds to our expectations.
The next stop is the Australian Grand Prix, which will give us our first look at the 2018 tyres in a competitive context.”
