Pirelli: Abu Dhabi F1 test "not nearly enough"

Pirelli boss Paul Hembery says the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test is "not nearly enough" for the Italian manufacturer to make significant progress with the understanding of its tyres.

(L to R): Niki Lauda, Mercedes Non-Executive Chairman with Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director

After weeks of discussions, Pirelli confirmed it will run a 12-hour test at the Yas Marina circuit on December 1.

The day will be devoted exclusively to tyre development work and teams will not be allowed to test new parts.

Pirelli has long been pushing for more testing and made it one of the conditions to stay on in F1 after the 2016 season.

Hembery, however, reckons the Abu Dhabi test is just a small part of what Pirelli wants.

"To be honest, it's not nearly enough," said Hembery. "It's just one day, but at least we have top teams and a lot of the top drivers who will be testing to give us some feedback to the changes we're making.

"There's just one compound change but there are some structural changes that we are looking at and this will give us a slightly different performance in terms of integrity. The cars are getting quicker and the tyre size stays the same, so we have a constant battle with that.

"You have to be very careful because the teams are all different and one team might be doing something different to the other. We have designed a product for the most extreme circumstances, so we're doing a lot of work on integrity aspects as well."

Praise masked by media

Although Hembery admits the 2015 season had more one-stop races that Pirelli would have wanted, he insists the company has received more praise than criticism during the year.

"The most important thing to say is that when people say nice things it is never get reported," he added.

"And we have far more nice things said than negatives and that's the nature of the media, they focus on negativity and it doesn't make headlines if someone say good things.

"And that's true not just here in motorsport but is true in almost everywhere these days.

"So when people say it must be tough having criticism, the reality that is also relative. It's a compromising environment.

"You're working with some very competitive teams, at the forefront of technology, who are pushing boundaries, so sometimes you are making decisions that aren't popular as well.

"However, it does still provide a global platform that is unsurpassed in any perform of motorsport."

Interview by Federico Faturos