Abu Dhabi, December 15, 2021 – Two days of post-season testing have concluded in Abu Dhabi, in dry conditions with ambient temperatures that ranged from 18 to 32 degrees, and track temperatures varying from 20 to 42 degrees.
Using ‘mule cars’, teams had the chance to try out all five of the 2022 18-inch slick compounds that will be used from the start of next season. The fastest driver over the two days was Lando Norris (McLaren) who set a time of 1m25.809 on the second day.
At the same time as trying out the 2022 tyres, there was also a one-day young driver test with the current 2021 13-inch tyres. Fastest of the young drivers was Nyck De Vries for Mercedes, with a time of 1m23.194s set on Tuesday.
In accordance with the prescriptions, drivers ran with 17.5 psi of tyre pressure at the back and 21.5 psi at the front – which was subsequently reduced to 20.0 psi on the second day.
The temperatures of the tyre warmers were also adapted to those that will be used next year: 70 degrees centigrade for both the front and the rear. Up to now, tyre blanket temperatures have been 100 degrees for the front and 80 degrees for the rear.
So, with hotter tires (tyres) and the old rims, the fastest was 1m25.809 and with the new tires they got down to 1m23.194? The new tires are that much faster? Yipes. I sincerely hope they find some way to deal with older circuits and bumper car drivers next year.