» Harder tyres for Spanish GP

Pirelli has announced it has updated the specifications of its hard-compound tyre, which it will introduce for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix as the designated ‘prime’ tyre for the event. The alternative ‘option’ tyre is the tyre maker’s standard soft-compound rubber.

The harder compound was successfully trialled during Friday practice at the Turkish Grand Prix, where drivers reported that the experimental compound was more durable than its preceding design, and Pirelli has therefore decided to provide it to the teams for this weekend’s race.

“We said from the start of the year that we would introduce evolutions of the tyres if we believed that they would benefit the sport and Barcelona marks the first occasion that we have done this,” Pirelli’s motorsport boss Paul Hembery is quoted as saying.

“The new tyre – which we have tested extensively – reduces degradation and improves tyre wear.

“It’s not a huge step over the original hard tyre but it does mean that there is a bigger gap between the soft and the hard tyre, which will definitely make things even more interesting on race day and give teams the opportunity to use more creative strategies.”

Despite its increased durability, a three-stop strategy is still expected for the race, although it is hoped that teams will run more varying strategies as a result of the bigger gap in performance between the two tyre compounds, Hembery added.

[Image via LAT]