2021 tyre package announced: no tyre blankets!

Formula 1 have announced the tyre package for the 2021 season. They will drop the tyre blankets and the wheels will measure 18-inches. The contract will start in the 2020 season with the current regulations running for just one year. 

The front tyres will become narrower having a 35mm reduction to 270mm. The diameters of the rears will be increased to 700-720mm. With the four-year contract starting a year before the new regulations come in, it’s likely that Pirelli will hold onto the deal as a new supplier would have to make two new sets, one for 2020 and one for 2021-2023. 

The biggest change is the loss of tyre blankets. For years they have been in discussion, but 2021 will be the year they are removed. And this will be the hardest development part of the supplier will need to be good from cold. 

The FIA said: “tyres should provide safe performance when leaving the pits cold. The glass transition temperature must be chosen so that the tyres are never in a ‘glassy state’ when either the ambient or track temperature is above 10 degrees centigrade.” 

“For winter testing, a specific low-temperature tyre will be required.”

Teams will continue to have three compounds available to choose from on a race weekend. These will be known as hard, medium and soft tyres. The FIA have characterised these as;

Hard compound: 2s degradation achieved at 22% race distance base lap time
Medium compound 2s degradation achieved at 18% race distance 1.2s/lap quicker than hard compound 
Soft compound: 2s degradation achieved at 10% race distance 2.2s/lap quicker than the hard compound. 

They went on to confirm they hope this will increase the number of race strategies on a race weekend. 

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