Abu Dhabi: It's always nice to say Marhaban Bikum Min Jadeed or ‘Welcome Back' to old friends — but sometimes it's tempting to add: ‘But haven't you changed since we last met!'
That's certainly one of the underlying themes for this year's visit to Yas Marina Circuit, the third by the increasingly familiar world of Formula 1.
While many of the people in the sport are the same, the cars themselves have changed since their last visit. And those changes will almost certainly have a major influence on the unfolding drama on the 5.554km, 21-turn track itself.
Let's start with the black bits at each corner of the cars. This weekend is something of a homecoming — and an anniversary — for Pirelli, sole supplier of tyres to all 12 F1 teams in 2011. It was here in Abu Dhabi that they had their first chance to test on the new Pirelli P Zero compound, since when they have found that Pirelli's product has added considerable spice to the serious business of racing.
Pirelli responded superbly to the brief of making tyres that would improve the show, with the relatively quick degradation of the tyres adding to the challenge for the drivers — and their pit crews, as pit stops have increased to an average of 58 per Grand Prix!
Additional sets
This year in Abu Dhabi, as well as supplying their normal choice of two compounds for use over the weekend, Pirelli will continue their research and development work by supplying each team with two additional sets of tyres with an experimental soft compound for use in Friday's two free practice sessions. This is with the 2012 season in mind.
For Yas Marina this year the ‘prime' or first-choice tyre is Pirelli's P Zero White, the ‘option' is the P Zero Yellow — Pirelli have also added their own dash of colour to the proceedings to help fans follow the teams' strategies.
"We're very familiar with the Yas Marina circuit," says Pirelli's Motorsport Director Paul Hembery, "so we're confident that the tyre choice we have made for the race should suit the characteristics of the track. Abu Dhabi is an absolutely fantastic facility with some good overtaking opportunities, so we're very pleased to be celebrating our first anniversary there."
As well as the tyres, the rear end of the cars has also changed with the introduction of a device called the ‘Drag Reduction System' or DRS.
