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Ferrari tops timesheets in Pirelli tyre test

ABU DHABI — The two-day Pirelli Formula One tyre test came to an end on Saturday and Ferrari topped the timesheets on both days. Felipe Massa was quickest on Friday and then double world champion Fernando Alonso was fastest at the Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday.

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The Spaniard logged a best time of 1:40.529 seconds over 105 laps and was just under half a second slower than Massa’s time of Friday.

Pirelli are making a comeback to the sport after 19 years and will be the official tyre supplier next season.

All the 12 teams were present and had two sets of Pirelli’s prime (medium) and option (soft) tyres to work with.

“It was a positive day. We had no particular problems with the Pirelli tyres and we were able to gather a lot of data for their engineers to work on.

We are pleased with the way we worked and in how we were able to adapt the set-up of the car to suit the new tyres, especially in terms of the work we can do on the new car in preparation for next season. From what we could see, the switch from Bridgestone to Pirelli should not be a traumatic one,” Alonso said.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, the only one to have experienced the Pirelli rubber some 20 years ago, was second fastest with a time of 1:40.685 seconds in his Mercedes GP over 74 laps.

“It was my first day of testing for 2011 and I feel that we had an interesting session. We gathered a lot of data and insights, and have positive feedback from our first impression of the new tyres. I am probably the only driver to have driven with Pirelli tyres before but it was 20 years ago and I didn’t have any certain expectations before today. In terms of consistency, it looked quite good but we were using the 2010 car today and it will be all about how these tyres suit our 2011 car,” said Schumacher.

Newly-crowned world champion Sebastian Vettel was third quickest for Red Bull and he came away with a time of 1:40.825 seconds over 66 laps in his title-winning RB6.

“There is still a lot to do, but I think the tyres are already better than expected. Since February, we haven’t really had time to do any in-depth testing on track, so these two days have given us a chance to reflect on things we have tried during the season,” Vettel said.

Williams’ Rubens Barrichello was fourth with a time of 1:41.294 seconds over 101 laps, while Renault’s Robert Kubica completed the top five.

Kubica logged a time of 1:41.614 seconds in 90 laps. Every team had eight sets of tyres available, four for day one and four for day two, which added up to a total supply of 384 Pirelli tyres.

Classifications:

1. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:40.529, 105 laps

2. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:40.685, 74

3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:40.825, 66

4. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:41.294, 101

5. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:41.614, 90

6. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:41.622, 46

7. Oliver Turvey, McLaren, 1:41.740, 30

8. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:41.869, 35

9. Kamui Kobayashi, BMW Sauber, 1:42.110, 43

10. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:42.145, 98

11. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 1:42.416, 46

12. Sergio Perez, BMW Sauber, 1:42.777, 46

13. Jarno Trulli, Lotus, 1:44.521, 83

14. Pastor Maldonado, HRT, 1:44.768, 65

15. Timo Glock, Virgin, 1:44.783, 82

james@khaleejtimes.com