F1 News - Bridgestone's New Tyres Get The Thumbs Up
01/12/2006
Bridgestone’s 2007-spec tyres have been tested for the first time this week, and with impressive results. The new rubber was given the thumbs-up by the 18 drivers present at the Barcelona test session.
“They are nice to drive. You have to work hard with the car to make them work, which makes it interesting for the engineers,” said Toyota driver Jarno Trulli.
Trulli’s team-mate, Ralf Schumacher, liked the tyres as well, and described them as “easier to drive on the limit” than the 2006 rubber.
The Toyota drivers’ feelings were shared up and down the pitlane, even though the lap times being set were about three seconds slower than this time last year.
“It has been a very interesting week, working with the tyres,” said Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen. “The high cornering speeds and abrasive track surface at Barcelona mean that we’ve been using a hard compound this week, whereas we will be using a softer compound in Jerez next week. It will be interesting to compare the two types of tyre.”