Zehnder: Imola is the perfect place for tire testing

On Tuesday and Wednesday in Imola, two teams will work on the Pirelli tire tests, of which we wrote the schedule for the Italian weekend.

On the circuit named after Enzo and Dino Ferrari, AlphaTauri, whose base is only 20 km away, and Alfa Romeo will work together with Pirelli specialists.

“Guanyu Zhou will be working on Tuesday and Robert Kubica on Wednesday,” said Beat Zehnder, Alfa Romeo sporting director. “Imola is the perfect place for us to help tire manufacturers gather new information that they can use to improve their products.”

The teams are not told what tasks to solve during the tests, this information is only available to Pirelli engineers. But it can be assumed that one of the areas of work will be to better understand the phenomenon of granulation of the new 18-inch rubber, which the teams have already encountered in the first races, and to find a way to counteract it.

Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo’s new leader, has been fired from his job during tests – in yesterday’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix he finished in a very worthy 5th place and earned a rest.

The Finn already has 24 points, he is in 8th place in the individual standings, but he assures that this is just the beginning.

“From the very first visit to the base in Hinvil I was in a good mood. I immediately noticed that all the team’s hopes for a change for the better are related to the new car and to me, – quotes Swiss newspaper Blick Valtteri. – It strengthens my confidence in my own seeps, and I can finally truly rejoice with everyone who works on the base.

I am ready to work with Alfa Romeo for many years to come. I have a fighting spirit and I feel the team fully shares that. Everyone is working together and the 24 points I have earned are just an intermediate result. We still have a lot to achieve!”