British GP preview quotes: Pirelli
Paul Hembery: "Silverstone, with its very high average speeds and flowing series of corners, presents an extreme contrast to Canada three weeks ago - which was much more stop and start. Like Canada, it's a circuit that takes a lot out of the tyres, but for very different reasons. We've brought the two hardest compounds to the British Grand Prix because of that, with a new bonding process connecting the tread to the steel belt, which is designed to eliminate the isolated delamination issues seen earlier this season
"The actual construction of the tyre won't change, as the teams weren't able to reach a unanimous agreement about this: however we do still have that possibility on stand-by should it be required in future. During free practice at Silverstone we will have the same prototype hard tyre available that we tried out on Friday in Spain, aimed at even greater durability than our current hard. This is in order to give the teams the chance to test this new compound on a different track to collect more data.
"Of course another important factor at Silverstone is the notoriously variable British weather: it would be no big surprise to see the Cinturato Green intermediate and Cinturato Blue full wet brought into play at some point. For that reason, it's quite hard to predict the number of pit stops on race day. Last year we saw a two-stop strategy in dry conditions after two wet days but this year the compounds are softer, so if it stays dry we could have between three and four stops.
"We should be in a position to make a more precise forecast after free practice. Finally, and most importantly, we would like to pass on our sincere condolences to Allan Simonsen's family and friends following the terrible accident at Le Mans last weekend. We were Aston Martin Racing's partners for many years, and we can only imagine what they must be going through now."
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