Pirelli extends until 2023
Present in F1 since 2011, Pirelli will extend its association with the discipline at least until 2023. The Italian manufacturer intends to finally introduce the 18-inch tires.
There wasn’t much suspense due to the lack of alternative candidates, but Pirelli and Liberty Media confirmed this morning that the current contract of the Italian manufacturer, which was set to expire at the end of next season, has been renewed to extend through 2023.
This means that Pirelli will be going through the next technical revolution of the discipline. Although it is announced for 2021, it could be delayed since the engine manufacturers do not seem to be queuing up to respond to the FIA’s specifications.
But it does not prevent the tire supplier from intending to push its own radical change, namely the size of the rims made available to the teams. Since its arrival in F1, Pirelli has been striving to request the introduction of 18-inch rims, which are used today on many production vehicles.
The current 13-inch models are relics of a bygone era, which are no longer fitted on any road cars, let alone sports cars, a prime clientele for Pirelli.
Marco Tronchetti Provera, the CEO of Pirelli, did not fail to remind that F1 must above all be a full-scale laboratory to promote its commercial range: « Formula One is and will remain the pinnacle of motorsports: it is the perfect environment for Pirelli, which has always defined motorsports as its most technologically advanced research and development laboratory. »
It remains to be seen whether this goal will finally be achieved or if it will be postponed once again, as has always been the case in recent seasons due to the complete changes it generates in the development of the cars.
With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr
