2014 Spanish Grand Prix – Race TWO PIT STOPS ONLY ON ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING CIRCUITS OF THE YEAR TYRE STRATEGIES DECIDE THE PODIUM PLACES AFTER A THRILLING BATTLE TWO-DAY TEST BEGINS ON TUESDAY: FOUR TEAMS TO TEST FOR PIRELLI Barcelona, May 11, 2014 – Barcelona is renowned for being one of the most demanding tracks on tyres of the entire year, but eight of the top 10 finishers all completed the 66- lap grand prix with just two stops. Last year, the race winner stopped four times in Barcelona, underlining the further improvements and increased durability built into Pirelli’s Formula One tyres this season. This has led to lower levels of wear, degradation and ‘marbles’ on the track, without compromising performance. Tyre strategy was instrumental to the Spanish Grand Prix, with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claiming his fourth consecutive win to move into the lead of the drivers championship. The Englishman, who went on a medium-medium-hard strategy from pole, beat his team mate Nico Rosberg by just six tenths of a second, who chose a medium-hard-medium strategy. The two strategies ensured a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle as Rosberg was able to take advantage of his newer and faster tyres at the end of the race. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel started from 15th on the grid but finished fourth with a three- stop sprint strategy, running mostly on the faster medium tyre and setting fastest lap. He was also able to make up several places in the closing stages. The second two-day in-season test of the year now takes place after the Spanish Grand Prix, from Tuesday. Sauber and Toro Rosso will be testing 2015 tyres for Pirelli on the opening day of the test, followed by Force India and McLaren on day two. Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “We saw some very exciting battles all the way down the top 10 in the closing stages of the race, despite many of the drivers having chosen very different strategies. This underlines the importance of strategy in every race this year, with not just the number of stops but also the order in which the tyres are used really making a difference. Following some overnight rain, ambient and track temperatures were cooler today, and this reduced the time difference between the hard and medium compounds: adding another factor into the equation. Although Barcelona is one of the most demanding circuits of the year, tyre wear and degradation was fully under control, as proved by the fact that the majority of drivers completed just two pit stops. That’s down to the hard work of all our team in Milan and Izmit since last year, so a big thank you to all of them. Now we focus on the second in-season test of the year, where we will be developing tyres for 2015.” Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com Fastest times of the day by compound: Hard Medium Intermediate Wet First HAM – 1m29.483s VET – 1m28.918s N/A N/A Second RIC – 1m30.012s ROS – 1m29.236s N/A N/A Third MAG -1m30.318s ALO – 1m29.898s N/A N/A Longest stint of the race: Hard 31 laps R Grosjean Medium 31 laps D Ricciardo Truth-O-Meter: We said that a two-stop strategy was possible for the 66-lap race. Our prediction was: start on the medium, change to medium on lap 22, then change to hard on lap 45. Lewis Hamilton followed the expected pattern but stopped slightly earlier than we predicted: for the first time on lap 18 and then again on lap 43. Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com Pit stop summary – 2014 Spanish Grand Prix Hamilton: MU MN (18) HN (43) 2 Rosberg: MU HN (21) MN (45) 2 Ricciardo: MU MN (14) HU (45) 2 Vettel: MU HU (12) MN (33) MN (52) 3 Bottas: MU MU (20) HN (45) 2 Alonso: MU MU (16) HN (35) MU (53) 3 Raikkonen: MU MU (17) HU (43) 2 Grosjean: MU MU (15) HU (34) 2 Perez: MU HN (18) MN (37) 2 Hülkenberg: MU MN (17) HN (36) 2 Button: MU MN (17) HN (36) 2 Magnussen: MN MN (19) HN (41) 2 Massa: MU MU (15) HN (28) HU (46) 3 Kvyat: MN MN (18) HN (36) MU (53) 3 Maldonado: MN MN (15) HN (37) 2 Gutierrez: MU MN (18) HN (36) MU (52) 3 Sutil: MN MN (17) HN (35) 2 Bianchi: MN MU (21) HN (41) 2 Chilton: MN MN (17) MU (31) HN (42) 3 Ericsson: MN MN (18) HN (40) 2 Kobayashi: MN MN (23) 1 NC Vergne: HN MN (16) 1 NC The first column denotes the tyres the driver started the race on. M = Medium compound H = Hard compound N = New compound U = Used compound NC = Not classified The last column gives the total amount of pit stops. *** Copyright-free videos, photos as well as latest media news are available for editorial use from: www.pirelli.com/f1pressarea (registration required). Follow us on Twitter @pirellisport or Facebook: Pirelli Motorsport. Please also visit the Pirelli website for more information on the company: www.pirelli.com. Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com For further information please contact Roberto Boccafogli • +39 335 125 6694 • [email protected] (Head of F1 Press Office) — Francescopaolo Tarallo • +39 334 684 4307 • [email protected] (Head of Product and Motorsport Communication) Alexandra Schieren • +33 607 03 69 03 • [email protected] Anthony Peacock • +44 7765 896 930 • [email protected] Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com .