Pirelli excited about new compound

It is now beyond doubt that the new Pirelli compounds have proven to be a massive hit this season.

When the Italian tyre manufacturer replaced Bridgestone as F1’s tyre manufacturer, they were given a brief to design less durable tyres which would improve the spectacle of Formula One.

It has proven to be a massive success, with this season one of the most entertaining Formula One seasons in many years.

'We've seen some fantastic street races so far this season, with the last grand prix in Canada being one of the highlights of the year, so we hope that Valencia will continue this pattern although it's notoriously difficult to overtake there,' said Pirelli's Paul Hembery.

The two tyre compounds that will be available to the teams at this weekend’s European Grand Prix will be the soft tyre which is now well known by the teams and Pirelli’s brand new PZero White medium tyre.

This new compound was tested by the teams in Canada during the first free practice session, so the teams and Pirelli have already gained quite a bit of data from the those tests, with Pirelli believing the new tyre will be more durable than the previously used medium compound.

Hembery continued: 'Tyre wear on this circuit is likely to be quite high because of the track layout, the nature of the surface, and also the weather conditions, which should be very warm.

'For all these reasons, we've selected the medium and soft tyres, which should provide the teams with a good level of resistance, plenty of different opportunities for strategy and about a second per lap difference between the compounds.