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| With the 2013 Formula One season about to kickstart in Melbourne, Pirelli has nominated the Supersoft red P Zeros and the Medium compound white P Zero tyres for the 2013 Australian Grand Prix |
The 2013 Formula One season gets underway in Australia this weekend, with Pirelli
supplying the new P Zero White medium and P Zero Red supersoft compounds: the first time
that such a nomination has been made by the Italian firm for the Albert Park circuit. This
year’s compounds are generally softer and faster than their predecessors, but two to
three pit stops are still expected per car on race day. Melbourne – which has opened
the Formula One season since 1996 – is a semi-permanent facility that is well-known
for its low levels of grip, which gradually improve over the course of the weekend as the
surface rubbers in.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul
Hembery says:
“After 12 days of pre-season testing we finally get to go racing with our 2013
compounds. They were developed over the course of the last season in private testing and
they are the most focussed and performance-orientated tyres we have ever made. Cold
weather conditions during pre-season testing meant that we weren’t able to showcase
them to the best of their abilities, but we are expecting a different story in Albert
Park, with two to three pit stops per car. The start of any new season is always a very
exciting time and from what we have observed during pre-season testing the field seems to
be closer than ever: quite an achievement when you consider that we had seven different
winners from the first seven races last year. All the compounds and constructions have
changed for 2013, and the drivers should notice a wider working range and a bigger window
of peak performance. The performance gaps between the compounds are also larger, which
means that teams have a greater opportunity to use strategy to their advantage by
exploiting the consequent speed differentials.”
Pirelli’s brand ambassador Jean
Alesi says:
“I’m delighted to become Pirelli’s brand ambassador at the
start of what should be an extremely exciting season: especially if last year is anything
to judge by. Albert Park was a circuit that I enjoyed as a driver – I competed there
from its debut year after the grand prix moved from Adelaide – but it’s really
not typical of anywhere else. You have some bits that are similar to a street circuit like
Monaco and other places that are more like a permanent track such as Barcelona. So I
probably wouldn’t read too much into the results from Melbourne, as it is so
atypical of anywhere else and also because at the start of the season the teams are still
learning a lot about their new cars and tyres. The tyres this year seem very interesting
and in qualifying in particular I think a really attacking driver should be able to do
something quite special. I would definitely have liked to use these tyres when I was
driving!”
