Pirelli reveal surprise time gaps between tyre compounds

Pirelli believe that the performance gaps between their compounds stand at around 0.8-1 second, rather than 0.5s as expected.

The teams have now put it plenty of work with their new-look 2022 challengers following three-day tests in Barcelona and Bahrain, with focus now turning to the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

It has been a pre-season where all teams have been forced to adapt to great change compared to last season, as alongside the cars designed to overhauled regulations, the Pirelli tyres have also undergone a big makeover.

Gone are the 13-inch compounds in favour of 18-inch replacements, with the C1 to C5 range tested most recently in Bahrain.

Pirelli’s F1 boss Mario Isola, as quoted by Motorsport-Total.com, did admit that they do not have a “clean comparison between the compounds” because of the regular upgrades and changes that the teams were making to their cars.

However, it would appear that the performance gaps between those compounds are greater than Pirelli had initially predicted.

“The expectation was 0.5 seconds per lap, it’s probably between 0.8 and one second per lap,” said Isola.

The only exception was between the two softest compounds, the C4 and the C5, where Pirelli did not see much of a difference at all. That though was more so as a result of the conditions in Bahrain.

“The difference between the C4 and C5 is almost nothing because the C5 doesn’t work here with its real performance,” Isola stated.

Looking further ahead into the season though, Isola does expect that the gaps will reduce to a level more in-line with Pirelli’s predictions, as teams turn their cars into a more optimised, stable package.

“My feeling is that the gap will narrow as the year progresses,” Isola predicted.

“Because if