(Motorsport-Total.com) – Formula 1 is back on German soil. On Tuesday and Wednesday, McLaren and the Mercedes factory team are conducting a tire test for Pirelli at the Nürburgring. However, the world champion team from Woking was stopped by a defect on Tuesday.
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While George Russell completed a total of 127 laps on the first test day, Oscar Piastri in the McLaren managed only 65. The reason was an unspecified technical problem, which caused the team to lose almost the entire afternoon.
Because it had rained on Monday night, both drivers started the test with several laps on intermediate tires. Accordingly, the program originally planned by Pirelli on slicks could only be started with some delay.
Pirelli states: “[Both drivers] completed several eight-lap runs in the first part of the program to test different construction variants of the C3 compound.”
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“The most promising solutions were then tested in the late afternoon by the British driver over longer distances to check their behavior at a more representative mileage,” says the tire manufacturer. This part of the test was omitted for Piastri due to the mentioned defect.
The Australian’s fastest lap time at the end of the day was 1:35.096, while Russell drove a 1:33.899. For comparison: When Formula 1 last held a Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in 2020, Valtteri Bottas secured pole position in the Mercedes with a time of 1:25.269 minutes.
The tire test will continue on Wednesday. Then world champion Lando Norris will be behind the wheel for McLaren, while current championship leader Kimi Antonelli will take over the Mercedes. Fans have the opportunity to follow the test directly at the track for 3.00 euros on the so-called “trial grandstand”.
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