Pirelli attends first official F1 test in Valencia

Testing will get underway at 10 a.m. local time tomorrow in Valencia, marking the beginning of four official sessions before the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain on March 13. The Valencia test will close on February 3, with the teams then heading for Jerez the following week.

The 12 teams had an opportunity to try out Pirelli's soft and medium tires for the first time last year in Abu Dhabi from 19-20 November, just a few days after the season-closing Grand Prix. On that occasion, the teams racked up approximately 11,000 kilometers between them in two days, giving them a good initial taste of Pirelli's new tires.

The Italian company will bring a wider range of the new Formula One compounds to Valencia this week, having defined the specification at the final private test sessions in the United Arab Emirates throughout mid-January.  As well as the dry tires, Pirelli will also put the intermediate and wet tires at the disposal of the teams in case of rain: a frequent occurrence on the Spanish coast at this time of year.

During the three-day Valencia test, each of the 12 teams will receive a maximum allocation of 30 sets of tires. The teams can choose how many sets of each compound they wish to test, depending on their individual development strategies.

The same arrangements will be in place for the following two tests, which will also take place in Spain: Jerez (February 10-13) and Barcelona (February 18-20).

All the teams will be able to rely on the support of the entire Pirelli F1 squad in Valencia, which is composed of 50 people. In particular, each team will have its own allocated Pirelli engineer, tasked with passing on technical information and working together with the team to help set up the car.