Davidson: new tyres a challenge for drivers

Winter testing kicked off at Barcelona on Tuesday with the teams present all getting their first taste of the new Japanese rubber that will be used by everyone.

As well as laptimes proving to be about three seconds slower than those witnessed this season during the heat of the tyre war between Bridgestone and Michelin, the new compound and constructions are much harder to get the best out of.

"They slide a lot more," said Davidson about the new tyres. "It tests the driver more actually, it really does.

"It is not more physical; in fact I would say it is less physical because we are going slower. But it is difficult to make them work, on the first lap, especially in these cold conditions," he told autosport.com.

Davidson said the biggest problem was in keeping heat in the tyres - which made life difficult on the first lap and when cars were not running at maximum speed.

"On my last run from the first day I got caught in traffic, so I had to back off. Then I had to attack again, but I had lost all the heat in the tyres and all the grip had gone.

"It is not dangerous, in some respects it is quite fun, but it is just difficult to try to get the car to work, and to work the tyre."

Renault's Heikki Kovalainen backed up Davidson's view that it has proved difficult working out how to get the best out of the new tyres.

"The tyres are very different to those I have used so far in Formula One: there is less grip overall, and we need to be a bit more careful in how we drive as well as adapting our style," said the Finn.

"But I am already confident I can adapt to them quickly, and that the team will have no problems understanding how to get the best from them."