Leclerc does 141 laps to test 18-inch Pirelli tyres in France

A few days after ending his dramatic weekend in Monaco, Charles Leclerc was allowed to take part in a Pirelli tyre test today. At the Paul Ricard circuit, the Monegasque tested the 18-inch tyres that will be used from 2022 onwards.

The test with Pirelli today was all about the intermediate and wet tyres. A message from Pirelli confirms the driver completed 83 laps on the intermediates and about 54 on the full wets. The test session in France will be finished tomorrow.

In order to test the rain tyres, the track near Marseille had to be kept wet artificially. Because of this 'the sprinkler system was working overtime', Dutch F1-commentator Olav Mol reported earlier on Twitter.

Prior to the introduction of the 18-inch tyres in the premier class of motorsport, Pirelli was allocated a total of 28 test days with various teams. In July it will be the turn of AlphaTauri to test the new tyre.