Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on track for McLaren’s first test in 2025
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in action as the new generation of rain tires takes to the track in the first test of 2025.
The first test of the year dedicated to the development of 2026 rain tires took place at the Paul Ricard circuit, with Oscar Piastri for McLaren on track for the first day of testing on Wednesday.
A first week of testing for McLaren
Driving a McLaren MCL60, Oscar Piastri was unable to complete the initially planned number of laps due to extremely cold conditions, with some parts of the track only reaching -2°C. However, the program was able to proceed as planned in the afternoon, allowing the Australian to finish his day with a total of 120 laps and a best time of 1m07.008s.
Lando Norris took over on Thursday to continue the testing of wet and intermediate tires for 2026. Rain is expected, but artificial sprinklers and water tanks might still be used, as was the case during Wednesday’s testing.
The tires of 2026 will retain the 18-inch diameter of the current generations, but their width as well as the external diameter of the front and rear tires will be slightly reduced.
This is not the first time tests have been conducted for this new generation of tires, as a prototype was already tested for the first time during trials at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last September.
