Bridgestone are reflecting on the performance of their new tyre compounds after the two Friday practice sessions for the opening race of the 2010 season.
The medium compound tyres helped Adrian Sutil set the fastest time in the morning session, and the super soft tyre was on the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg as he topped the timesheets in the afternoon.
Hirohide Hamashima, the Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development summarised the significance of today’s practice sessions. “Today was the first time that teams have run in hot weather with the 2010 Bridgestone Potenzatyres. In addition, this was the first time that teams have run on the new configuration Sakhir circuit. This is quite a severe circuit so it gives our tyres a good test, especially in these hot temperatures. After the limited pre-season testing there is still much to learn and we have seen a variety of tyre usage across the field. Significantly this was the first time we've seen the new teams at a Grand Prix.”
Hamashima spoke of how the teams are using Friday practice differently due to the new regulations. “For data collection the teams are approaching Friday practice differently this season as there are big differences in fuel loads to evaluate and there are fewer tyres available to use. The difference in fuel loads and the length of stint being undertaken on new or old tyres makes it difficult to interpret the results without all the data, and this makes practice very interesting indeed.”
He also said that there didn’t seem to be much difference between the super soft and medium compounds used today, but that this could change as track conditions and car set-ups improve. “The medium compound was used for the majority of running today with fewer laps undertaken on the super soft compound. From today's running there is not much difference between the two compounds however this could change with further track and car set-up improvements tomorrow.”
