The new Pirelli tires adopted for the remainder of the season
From Silverstone, Pirelli will make its new tires tested in Austria available, last weekend.
This Thursday, the World Motor Sport Council and the FIA have given the green light for the introduction of the new Pirelli tires. These new reinforced tires on the rear axle will make their debut next week at Silverstone, during the British Grand Prix. If this announcement is not surprising, all that was missing was the official confirmation, as the FIA can make such a change during the year to ensure more safety.
The introduction of these new tires follows the problems encountered, notably in Baku, where the rear tires of Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen exploded on the straight.
Last week, in Austria, the drivers were able to test these new tires. The manufacturer specified that this new construction would have no impact on the different types of rubber, but only on the rear tires. According to Pirelli, these new tires will have elements that have been developed for the use of the upcoming 18-inch tires in 2022, and guaranteeing even greater levels of integrity in the extreme conditions that current single-seaters can generate.
After testing them, the drivers had a rather positive feedback and specified that they do not have any impact on the behavior of the single-seaters. The Italian firm added that the tires were tested with 2 psi lower pressures, whereas these had been increased after the incidents in Baku.
« The pilots’ feedback was positive. Some found a bit more traction in the early laps. And some commented that the new prototype was very, very similar to the current C4. In the end, that was the goal, because we all know that the new construction is more robust, that we want to introduce it to have an extra margin, but we did not want to modify the behavior and balance, or ask the teams to adjust their settings by adopting the new construction. This was confirmed in general. », confessed Mario Isola after the tests in Austria.
Pirelli also wants to avoid reliving last year’s fiasco when Lewis Hamilton ended up winning on three wheels due to a tire puncture on the very last lap.
