De la Rosa pleased with wet test

The Pirelli team ran a full test of wet weather compounds on its 2009-spec Toyota test car on Monday, covering 119 laps of Yas Marina's 'north circuit'. It will switch to work on intermediates this evening.

De la Rosa says the simulated rain conditions - achieved using tankers to hose the track with water - have been a success.

"We will start on intermediates today and at the end of the night we will do a crossover to slicks," he told AUTOSPORT in Abu Dhabi.

"There has been a consistent level of water and that's always the most critical point of wet running. Different levels can make your results completely pointing in the wrong direction, so I was very pleased with how the circuit managed the water."

He added that the warmer track temperatures have given Pirelli vital data when planning for wet races in Asia during the season.

"Track temperature is everything for tyre testing," he said. "You always have to think what you will find during the year. Formula 1 races in hot climates, we follow the summer periods so always higher temperatures.

"But the problem [testing in Europe] is you are picking out your compounds for the whole season in the south of Spain - which is the warmest in Europe, but the track temperature you find there is 15, maximum 20, degrees. It's not enough.

"Then you go to Bahrain or places like this where you have 40 plus, and the tyre's working range is completely different. That's why we came here."

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery anticipates a more challenging evening of testing today, attempting to replicate intermediate tyre conditions.

"Today we'll test the intermediates and we'll be using a lot less water," he said. "This time we'll see how the track dries out and, when the temperatures go up, find out how the inters work in these conditions, and the crossover to slicks.

"We're going to try to replicate intermediate conditions, and I don't know how well that will work just yet. It's much easier to replicate the full wet conditions. Today there is more for us to learn."