'The tyres were looking like cauliflowers' - Vegrne

Jean-Eric Vergne thinks the tricky Pirellis could help his style © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Jean-Éric Vergne

• Teams:
• Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne thinks the characteristics of the new Pirelli tyres will suit his style in qualifying this year, despite some initial issue in testing.

In the cold pre-season tests the tyres have offered one good lap before degrading quickly due to graining and Vergne said that had made things difficult during thelast two weeks in Spain.

"I was saying previously in the meeting that they were looking like cauliflowers," he said. "I used this expression in French quite a lot when I was in karting... it's really tricky. I have only one lap, then you have a lot of graining, so it's difficult."

However, he believes it could suit his style this year when it comes to nailing a lap in qualifying at the first attempt.

"If there is one thing I like about these tyres is that it's a one lap tyre," Vergne added. "I think that's really nice, you have one lap and you really have to go for it and that's it.

"It suits my style, because I'm quite aggressive. I wouldn't say I'm aggressive all the time, but just in the way of my approach. I mean outside the track, on the track and in the race I try to have a really smooth driving style to try and help the race, but when it needs to be pushed, I'm there."

Vergne said it had been difficult to get through his programme this week because of the tyres but is confident they will react differently at races.

"Last year we could make a test, but now it's impossible to make a test," he said. "You have the new tyres and then you lose a minimum of four seconds of running time, so it's really tricky to make a real test. I think the track conditions are not that cold but for sure it's colder than what it's going to be in Melbourne.

"I think it's a concern for everybody, but in the meantime it's the same for all the other teams so we need to work around this. Last year we had the same concerns but by the end of the year there were some changes to make a one stop strategy in the race. People are starting talking a bit too early, but if you consider it like this, that no one improves the tyre management early, we might end up seeing races with many many pit stops."

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