The 2013 Pirelli Tyre Test was a three-day test intended to test the tyres to be used in the 2014 Formula One Season. It took place between December 17–19, 2013 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
The test, completed with 2013-spec cars, was created at the meeting of the F1 Strategy Group and the Formula One Commission on 9 December 2013. It was to be carried out "on safety grounds", to ensure that Pirelli's 2014 tyres can contain the stresses of the 2013 cars and to ensure that any issues are ironed out before the teams start using the tyres on a serious basis.
Since it was a Pirelli test, only teams that were invited by Pirelli are allowed to take part. All eleven teams were invited, and Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso initially accepted, but McLaren and Force India later declined to participate. Mercedes (with Nico Rosberg) and Toro Rosso (with Jean-Éric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat) took their race drivers; while Red Bull (with Sébastien Buemi) and Ferrari (with Pedro de la Rosa and Jules Bianchi[1]) took test drivers.
Like other Pirelli tests, the results of the test are private, and were not be released to the media or to the general public. Despite this it became known that on the third day, Rosberg suffered a tyre blowout at 320 km/h (200 mph) and spun as a result. This only came to light as Rosberg tweeted about his incident, before deleting the tweet soon afterwards.
Pirelli later declared that the tyre that blew out was a prototype tyre that had only been tested in the laboratory and that it will not be used again. Mercedes, unable to repair the car in the remaining time, did not do any more laps after Rosberg's blowout.
Driver Running Order[]
Team | Car | Day 1 (Tue) | Day 2 (Wed) | Day 3 (Thu) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Red Bull-Renault | RB9 | Sébastien Buemi | ||
Mercedes | F1 W04 | Nico Rosberg | ||
Ferrari | F138 | Pedro de la Rosa | Jules Bianchi | |
Toro Rosso-Ferrari | STR8 | Jean-Éric Vergne | Jean-Éric Vergne Daniil Kvyat |
Daniil Kvyat |
Notes[]
- ↑ Bianchi was part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, despite driving in F1 for Marussia.