Pirelli F1 Brazilian GP practices review 07.11.2014: 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix – Practice Sessions - Track evolution an important factor at Interlagos

2014 Brazilian Grand Prix – Practice Sessions

- Track evolution an important factor at Interlagos

- Medium and soft tyres separated by 0.8-1.0 seconds

- Very hot weather today: Rain still possibility for rest of weekend




Nico Rosberg flies to the best time in free practice, with Sao Paulo in the background.


Track evolution proved to be the defining characteristic of the first day of running at the famous Interlagos venue in Sao Paulo, with the circuit having been recently resurfaced and a new pit lane entry installed as well.


The first day took place in hot conditions, with ambient and track temperatures peaking at 34 and 57 degrees centigrade respectively. However, these conditions are far from guaranteed to remain for the rest of the weekend, with the weather forecast predicting intermittent rain: particularly during qualifying.


 There was a difference of more than 20 degrees in average track temperature between the morning and afternoon sessions, partially accounting for the difference in lap times between the two sessions.


This means that the teams will have to be prepared for a wide variety of conditions, so they concentrated today on gathering as much data as possible on different fuel loads, using both nominated compounds: P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft.


Mercedes finished first and second in each of the two sessions, with Nico Rosberg leading Lewis Hamilton on both occasions. In the morning Rosberg set his fastest time on the medium tyre, before using the soft tyre in the afternoon to go six-tenths of a second faster.


On average, there is a performance gap of around 0.8 to 1.0 seconds between the two nominated compounds, but this will probably come down as the track evolves further.


Paul Hembery: “We started the day seeing a very high influence from the new surface and its interaction with the tyre, but this was changing rapidly as the sessions went on, with strong track evolution.


We’re also seeing that rear tyre is the limiting factor here, and on some occasions, with close to 60 degrees of track temperature, there was some blistering – which is what we envisaged bringing the softer tyre here, when conditions were hot.


We’ve got about one second of performance difference between the two compounds, but due to red flag interruptions today we still don’t have a clear indication of the levels of true degradation we’re ultimately going to see. So tomorrow is set to be a very important session.”



FP1:                FP2:        
 
1.Rosberg    1m12.764s    Medium used      1.Rosberg    1m12.123s    Soft new
2.Hamilton    1m12.985s    Medium used      2.Hamilton    1m12.336s    Soft new
3.Kvyat    1m13.723s    Medium used      3.Raikkonen    1m12.696s    Soft new



Tyre statistics of the day:

     Medium    Soft    Intermediate    Wet

kms driven *    3166    978         0
sets used overall **    53    16         0
highest number of laps **    27    22         0



* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.



Pirelli facts of the day:

Pirelli recently won the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index in Italy, which recognises the company’s strategic innovations towards reducing environmental impact, and transparency when it comes to communicating on environmental matters. By 2020, Pirelli aims for a reduction of 15% in CO2 emissions worldwide and an 18% reduction in energy consumption at all of its factories worldwide.
 

- Alexandra Schieren, Anthony Peacock - photo Pirelli