2015 F1 pace will be three seconds quicker

Formula One cars could be three seconds quicker per lap than they were last year and back to V8 era levels of pace, according to tire suppliers Pirelli.

One of the primary complaints during the V6s first year in 2014 was that the cars were too slow, with qualifying and race times remaining off the benchmarks set with V8 in previous years. However the cars improved pace drastically over the season and the development curve will have continued into this year.

Pre-season testing begins on February 1 and Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery reckons a dramatic increase in speed will be seen between now and the opening flyaway races.

"Our initial data is suggesting there are going to be some big jumps," Hembery told Autosport."The teams have had the ability to change things over the winter, particularly on the powertrain front, and we anticipate by the time we are in Melbourne, or at the latest China, we will see some pretty significant jumps compared to last season."

Hembery is predicting a three-second improvement; enough to put the V6 cars on a par with their V8 predecessors.

"We know we are always chasing a moving target – and I think we are talking about maybe being two to three seconds per lap quicker than last season. That is a massive difference. It means for our tires that what was last year a conservative choice might actually be quite aggressive this season."