Gary Paffett on Friday said F1′s new Pirelli tyre is “not too different” from the product supplied in 2010 by the now departed Bridgestone.

At Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit, the two-day Pirelli test began, with teams and race drivers including new world champion Sebastian Vettel getting their first taste of the sport’s new rubber.

At the end of the day, the best time was Felipe Massa’s 1.40.1 — a significant feat for the Brazilian after struggling with the Bridgestone tyre this year.

Indeed, Renault chief engineer Alan Permane reported that the Pirelli’s had suffered from “no warm-up issues”, which had been a significant problem for drivers including Massa in 2010.

Vettel was also in the 1.40s on Friday.

That is about 2 seconds slower than Daniel Ricciardo’s Bridgestone-shod time set in the Red Bull earlier this week, although it must be noted that most teams were also running with the new mandatory weight distribution setup for 2011.

“The tyres seem to be working well and not too different from Bridgestone, so a good start,” said Gary Paffett, who has tested the 2010 McLaren with both Pirelli and Bridgestone tyres this week.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said the front-to-rear ratio must be 46:54 per cent, due to the arrival of Pirelli as the sport’s new exclusive tyre supplier.

The teams want to avoid the kinds of surprise problems that arose in 2009, when a pre-season change to the Bridgestone tyre design resulted in the need to make expensive changes to the cars’ weight distribution.

But if a mandatory weight distribution applies in 2011, all the teams will be in the same boat.

“If the weight distribution remained free, then some would get it right by accident while others get it totally wrong.  That’s what we want to avoid,” said FOTA’s technical boss Ross Brawn.

Jun.13 (GMM) Forecast rain in Montreal on Sunday is expected to stay away until after the Canadian grand prix.

Very early in the morning in the Canadian city, the skies are cloudy but so far not dropping any rain on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

In fact, Sunday’s should be the warmest afternoon seen for several days in Montreal, which is good news for the performance of the Bridgestone tyres.

The race, beginning at 12pm local time, will be staged over 70 laps.

Because the decision about next year’s supplier is taking so long, F1 teams are designing their 2011 cars around the current specification of Bridgestone tyre.

The Japanese marque is departing the sport, and it had been expected that the Italian company Pirelli would be unveiled this weekend as successor.

But Michelin has thrown a spanner in the works, sending competition boss Nick Shorrock to Istanbul, where a 90 minute meeting on Sunday resulted in the teams still not deciding on an outcome for next year’s world championship.

“It’s going to take a little while longer,” Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn told Reuters in Turkey.

But the teams’ designers are out of time, and leading outfits are getting anxious.

“It’s already late and we cannot really waste more time on it,” said Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali.

Brawn said the teams are handling the situation by producing a “technical specification” of the tyre they want for 2011, and are therefore able to continue with plans for next year’s cars.

“Our cars are being designed around the current tyres because we have no other information,” he explained.

(GMM)

Two touted contenders for victory in Sunday’s Turkish grand prix had a troubled afternoon practice session at Istanbul Park.

Frustrated Barcelona/Monaco winner and joint championship leader Mark Webber, although second fastest behind Jenson Button, suffered what is suspected to be a failed engine failure.

After skilfully reversing his Red Bull through a gap in the fence, the Australian then amusingly lost his temper with Turkish marshals who could not decipher his desire for a fire extinguisher to be used to chock the wheel.

2006-2008 Istanbul winner Felipe Massa, meanwhile, had the canvas showing on a set of his soft Bridgestone tyres after spinning sideways in the challenging Turn 8.

(GMM)

It is this year’s generation of Bridgestone tyres that is helping Mark Webber to be so competitive at the wheel of the Red Bull.

The Australian commandingly won the past two grands prix from pole position, causing experts to wonder how his highly rated teammate Sebastian Vettel is being momentarily put in the shade.

The latest issue of Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport magazine quotes Webber, 33, as admitting that he is enjoying the narrower and more durable 2010 tyres provided by sole supplier Bridgestone.

“The new generation of tyres better suit my driving style,” he confirmed.

“The fronts do not bite as extremely and the rears have better lateral stability. Sebastian prefers it the other way around,” added Webber.

Vettel said: “You can’t get as much out of these tyres than before. They have a lower limit.”

Like Vettel, Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher have been struggling with the 2010 tyres.

Only with the softest compounds, as were used in Bahrain and Monaco, can Massa cope with the pace of his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso.

“I have been having trouble getting the harder tyres to work,” the Brazilian said. “With the softer ones I have the grip that I need from the first lap.”

(GMM)