testing on warn rain tires?

[johnny shell]

notice in some of the testing pics it looks like they're testing on slicks? except the tires have a faint rain groove patter in them that looks like it's completely warn away?

what's up with that?

[johnny shell]

here's an example


http://www.itv-f1.com/popups/Photo.aspx?PG_ID=22&Image=38

[johnny shell]

and another:

http://www.f1racing.net/en/photolarge.php?photoID=67755&catID=2162

[miksu]

There's 2 types of rain tyres, for heavy rain and for light wet conditions. Those in your pics are for light rain, and they have been similar for years.

[miksu]

for heavier rain
http://images.f1racing.net/large/67654.jpg

lighter rain
http://images.f1racing.net/large/67651.jpg

[tinchote]

Taking into account that Ferrari alledgedly lost the WDC because of bad management of intermediates on a drying track (was it Hungary?), it sounds all reasonable that they are testing in those conditions.

[DimitraF1]

whats the point here tinchote?

[tinchote]

whats the point here tinchote?

That teams should try to be ready for everything that may happen along a season. A situation where several races were won or lost in the last few years has been the situation where rain stops and the track starts drying: how long do you stay on the degrading intermediates? Wrong decisions and/or luck in those situations have defined several races, and you might end up needing those points at the end of the season.

[VresiBerba]

notice in some of the testing pics it looks like they're testing on slicks? except the tires have a faint rain groove patter in them that looks like it's completely warn away?

Your first example is a normal dry tyre, nothing wrong with it at all. Heavy rain tyres seems to make, when photographed with a slow shutter speed, the tyre look like a dry tyre but with one extra groove, five instead of four (front tyre). If the car was stationary the tyre would look like this:

http://images.f1racing.net/large/67654.jpg