Predicting circuit grip improvement will be key - Bridgestone
F1 Grand Prix, GP Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit
Bridgestone’s soft tyre took Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Heikki
Kovalainen to the fastest time of the first ever day of Formula One cars
running at the spectacular Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Kovalainen set a time of 1m 41.307secs in the later of the two afternoon
practice sessions. His team- mate Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first
practice session, using the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre
Development
What was significant about today’s running?
"Today was all about learning this fantastic new circuit so for the teams and
the drivers it was a big challenge. As with any new circuit the grip level
increased a lot through the day and we saw a big improvement in lap times.
Our desert location means there was sand and dust on the track at the
beginning of the day too. In the later session the track temperature dropped
quite quickly after sunset, but even the coolest temperature seen was still
quite warm."
How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
"We expect the track to further improve tomorrow. We are currently analysing
today’s data as it is still very early to say how exactly the medium and
soft will work in the race. We saw graining today, especially on the rear.
There was more graining on the soft compound, as you would expect. Whilst
there was good grip improvement on the racing line, off-line the track is
still quite dirty so drivers need to be vigilant here. A good qualifying and
race set-up will depend on how well the teams predict the grip improvement
from the track."
http://www.f1technical.net/news/13693
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