Pirelli reiterate call for ‘warm-weather testing’

With Mercedes two-day outing at Barcelona hampered by poor weather, Paul Hembery has reiterated Pirelli's need for warm-weather testing ahead of the 2017 season.

Nico Rosberg managed just 60 laps on Wednesday while Pascal Wehrlein added 31 to the tally as Mercedes tested Pirelli's 2017 tyres.

Both days were hindered by the weather, strengthening Hembery's call for at least one of the two pre-season tests to take place in Bahrain.

"Obviously the weather hindered progress to some extent, as is not entirely unexpected at this time of year in Europe," said the Pirelli motorsport boss.

"The same can apply to the early part of next year, which is why we are in favour of some guaranteed warm-weather testing in 2017, before the season gets underway."

Not all the teams are in favour with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner open to a compromise but not a pre-season test in Bahrain.

"For the first four races, Melbourne can be pretty chilly, China's certainly pretty cool, Bahrain's a night race and Russia can also be on the cooler side," he said..

"So maybe a more sensible solution would be to stay in Bahrain after the race [in April] and rather than do the test in Barcelona mid-season, do it in Bahrain when everybody's kit and personnel is at that circuit."