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Isola thinks wet tyre should be better, but: 'But then it is pointless'

Isola thinks wet tyre should be better, but: 'But then it is pointless'

14-08-2023 15:20 Last update: 17:03

Formula 1 has not yet got it right in terms of tyres in rainy conditions. The intermediate tyre is almost always faster that the full wet tyre, so the latter is hardly used anymore. Pirelli boss Mario Isola talks to Viaplay about the performance of the two tyres.

Full-wet tyres almost invisible in F1

Only occasionally do the drivers drive with the rain tyres in Formula 1, for example in the previous Grand Prix weekend in Spa during the sprint race. Here, the race was started behind the safety car because of the rain, forcing the drivers to screw the full wet tyres under the cars. However, when the green flag was waved most of the drivers already went inside to get the intermediate tyres, as they were already much faster.

Isola, too, sees that 'his' rain tyres are pretty much useless and is looking for solutions, although this soon raises another problem according to the Italian. "I agree that we have to improve the performance of the wets, to have a better crossover with the intermediates. But again, if we improve and then because of visibility reasons, they are not running, it is useless."

Pirelli has other solution

The lack of visibility in high rain conditions is a well-known problem in motorsport and thus also in Formula 1. Therefore, the Pirelli boss is already thinking of another solution. "Maybe we need to develop an intermediate that is going more in the wet direction and use only one tyre instead of two."