Nico Hulkenberg believes the newly resurfaced track has “changed the characteristics” of the layout at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
On Monday, drivers got their first taste of the fresh tarmac as Formula 1 testing began in Spain, which has been an additional factor the teams and tyre supplier Pirelli have had to consider in the build-up.
Traditionally one of the hardest circuits on the tyres due to its abrasiveness as well as the number of medium and high-speed turns, the Renault driver does think that may no longer be the case.
“This is probably the smoothest track on the calendar now, it’s so flat,” Hulkenberg claimed.
“It has changed the characteristics of the track also I feel a little bit. There were corners like Turn 5 that had banking and some other corners had some warp in them and now it’s all flat.
“So it did change the track a little bit and the new tarmac feels more grippy. Quite substantially.”
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Another problem drivers faced as testing began was the unusually cold temperatures in Barcelona which has made it almost impossible to get the slick tyres into their correct operating window.
“On my first run I was kind of scared because it felt like driving in the wet,” Hulkenberg said, revealing it took “two or three laps” to generate any heat.
“But then when you feel lap by lap it’s getting better, the temperature comes in and the grip comes up as well. So it’s just that scenario we always see in winter testing when the track surface is really cold, it’s quite different.”
