Vandoorne fastest in Pirelli tyre test

© XPB 

Stoffel Vandoorne set the fastest time of the season-ending Pirelli tyre test for McLaren.

All eleven teams were present at the Yas Marina Circuit on Tuesday, with Pirelli running a 12-hour non-stop test as part of its 2016 preparations. Teams tested a number of different variations of the new ultrasoft tyre compound which will be used next year, while also testing new constructions for the front and rear tyres.

After spending the first 90 minutes carrying out baseline set-up tests using the current soft and supersoft tyres, teams got down to business on the new compound. Though the tyres used to set the fastest times were not disclosed, Vandoorne setting the pace with a 1:44.103, putting him 0.3s of Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari.

Pirelli Motorsport director Paul Hembery says the initial running from the test was positive and leaves the tyre manufacturer with plenty of data to work from.

“We had one shot when it came to testing tyres for next season, and we can be satisfied by what we’ve achieved in this test, even if we have to fully analyze the data," Hembery said. "We’ve tested different versions of the new ultrasoft compound for 2016, which was one of the targets for this session. The ultrasoft’s target for 2016 is to introduce a compound softer than the supersoft and mainly designed as agressive choice for street circuits: with better performance than the latest version of the supersoft tyre and faster degradation, in order to allow the Teams to take a more aggressive approach to race strategy.

"Whether this will produce more pit stops, or any difference in strategies, it’s too early to say for now. We will fully analyse our data and team telemetry once we get back to base. But it seems we are heading in the right direction: the ultrasoft is expected to offer more possibilities for certain races. We also tested some different constructions for both front and rear tyres."

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PosDriverTeamTimeLaps
1S. VandoorneMcLaren1:44.10399
2K. RäikkönenFerrari1:44.45656
3M. EricssonSauber1:44.48050
4J. PalmerLotus1:44.56890
5S. VettelFerrari1:44.94056
6P. WehrleinMercedes1:45.605107
7D. RicciardoRed Bull1:45.80557
8M. VerstappenToro Rosso1:45.84954
9N. HülkenbergForce India1:45.85271
10V. BottasWilliams1:45.940103
11D. KvyatRed Bull1:46.30948
12C. SainzToro Rosso1:46.99556
13A. FongSauber1:48.43957
14A. Celis JrForce India1:48.54565
15R. HaryantoManor1:49.59356
16J. KingManor1:49.66159