Pirelli Motorsport completed another 18-inch tyre test at Barcelona with Alfa Romeo, Red Bull Racing and Alpine in action.

Following the tests at Jerez, Bahrain and Imola, Pirelli had another running of the 18-inch F1 tyres at Barcelona, with Alfa Romeo and Red Bull making its debut, while Alpine continuing on from before – all three outfits, though, had non-regular drivers.

Ferrari, Mercedes and Alpine have previously utilised their regular drivers for testing, but the latter this time had Daniil Kvyat in action on Wednesday. The original schedule had the French manufacturer team run on Tuesday, but they switched to Day 2.

Alfa Romeo and Red Bull, meanwhile, ran on both the days, with Robert Kubica and Alexander Albon in action. The former did 127 laps on the first day of running, while the latter did 124 in all across the two sessions they ran the slick compound.

On Day 2, Kubica had 113 laps under his name, to have a total of 240 laps, while Albon completed 127 laps, to have a total of 251 laps. Additionally, Kvyat ran 123 laps, which meant, Pirelli had data from a total of 614 laps across the three teams and two days.

With another slick compound running complete, Pirelli will now undertake a wet tyre running at Circuit Paul Ricard on May 25-26 with Mercedes. Over the weekend in Barcelona, the Italian manufacturer noted that they are working on various compounds, with the construction work almost done.

The Barcelona test also saw Pirelli run the new wheel covers (photos below), which was fitted on the Alfa Romeo of Kubica on Day 1 – they intend to have the tyres like that next year. “It’s been two very busy but productive days. It’s always interesting to discover new features of the car, especially when it’s something as important as the tyres,” said Kubica.

“These are our team’s first steps with the new 18-inch tyres so there is a lot to learn. We covered lots of laps, lots of miles and got a lot of data that will keep everyone busy. It’s been a tough two days: I hadn’t been in the car for a while before last Friday and to run for two days on such a demanding track was a challenge, but one we happily completed with success.”

Here’s selection of photos:

 

Here’s some videos of test:

https://twitter.com/alfaromeoracing/status/1392379860824248320?s=20

 

Here’s the test at Imola where Mercedes ran

Here’s the full schedule of 18-inch tyre test in 2021

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