The Yas Marina road circuit of Abu Dhabi was the scene of Pirelli's Formula 1 first wet weather night test with Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa driving the Toyota TF109 test car.
Having conducted its previous test sessions with its dry tire compounds, Pirelli tested its new wet tire compounds on an artificially wet track under floodlights.
The Italian tire manufacturer is conducting six hours of testing for two nights in succession.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli's motorsport director explained that this test is held in the Middle East because it's warmer than Europe at this time of year.
"There are wet races in F1 in Asia - Malaysia, Japan, possibly Singapore - and those places are different, the ambient temperature stays very high even when it's raining," he explained.
"And we're testing at night time because we don't want the sun to evaporate the water on the track," Hembery added.
Additionally, the test is also the first sign of potential visibility problems if wet weather strikes any of F1's night or dusk races.
Having conducted its previous test sessions with its dry tire compounds, Pirelli tested its new wet tire compounds on an artificially wet track under floodlights.
The Italian tire manufacturer is conducting six hours of testing for two nights in succession.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli's motorsport director explained that this test is held in the Middle East because it's warmer than Europe at this time of year.
"There are wet races in F1 in Asia - Malaysia, Japan, possibly Singapore - and those places are different, the ambient temperature stays very high even when it's raining," he explained.
"And we're testing at night time because we don't want the sun to evaporate the water on the track," Hembery added.
Additionally, the test is also the first sign of potential visibility problems if wet weather strikes any of F1's night or dusk races.