Mario Isola is upbeat about the all-new Pirelli 18-inch Formula 1 tyres after teams completed more than 3,000 laps of testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last month.
The new wheel size is one of the more significant rule changes implemented, starting 2022, for the new era of F1 cars. During the three days in Spain, for the first time, the 18-inch tyres were run on the cars they were made for, as opposed to older mule cars or the vastly different 2021 cars.
Speaking before testing in Bahrain, starting Friday, Pirelli’s Head of F1 and Car Racing Mario Isola reported: “First of all, I have to say I am quite happy because the first target was to confirm what we found during our tyre development test last year and the [Abu Dhabi] post-season test.
“Last year we were using new cars, so we had some question marks like the aero package, that is not the same, like the wheel cover, the heat transfer from the brake and the rim so it was important to have a first feeling of that.
“It was quite positive; comments were in line with what we found last year. Now we have a lot of data to analyse. Teams were focused mostly on C2 and C3 [compounds] because they are focused on the car set-up and balance and to understand how the car behaves, but I believe that we have good information.”
Isola: The crossover time between wet and intermediate is really important
On the final day of the three-day test in Barcelona, the track was artificially made wet using water tankers, which allowed Pirelli and the teams to run wets and intermediates.
Isola said of the wet stint: “That was an opportunity that we decided to give to the teams because I feel that with such a big change in tyres and the car it was not right to face the wet conditions without having tested the wet or intermediates first.
“So, we asked the circuit to use as many tanks as they had and they had six, I believe, so in one hour’s time they put as much water as they can, and we had something similar to full wet conditions.”
“Also, to evaluate the crossover time between wet and intermediate, and the intermediate to slick. The crossover time is really important, to ensure that there is an overlay between two products and not a gap, because a gap is dangerous, you don’t have any tyres that are suitable for that condition, and we want to avoid that.”
The final three days of testing in Bahrain begins on Friday, 11 March, before the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on 20 March.
