New rules for Pirelli tyres: Teams now required to test tyres

The new rules presented by Formula 1 on Wednesday evening have a disadvantage for Pirelli. The Italian tyre supplier had not expected another year with these tyres, but a solution has been found.

Pirelli's tyres have played an important role in Formula 1 in recent years and that will certainly not diminish in the coming years. The fact that the rules will remain the same until 2021 also means that Pirelli will not yet be able to switch to the 18-inch tyres, so the 2019 tyres will have to be maintained.

However, these tyres were not intended for this purpose. Where Pirelli already had new sets ready, the old rubber still has to be used in 2020 and 2021. To ensure that this will not cause any major problems, Formula 1 has now adapted the sports regulations to allow Pirelli to test more with the tyres.

Should Pirelli now find it necessary to test tyres, it is now possible for teams to test the last half hour of the second free practice session on Friday with the new tyres. Testing must then be done by all teams and only in case of repair work due to damage may a team fail.

The teams will be informed in advance if Pirelli wants to test the tyres that weekend and a minimum number of laps will be added to the test schedule. In this way Pirelli will be able to collect more data about the tyre, which should also benefit the teams in the long term.