F1 tyre testing options boosted by regulation amendment

Amendments to the Formula One Sporting Regulations announced by the World Motor Sport Council on March 8 give tyre supplier Pirelli the option of evaluating new types of tyre during race meetings this year. The amendment states that “at certain events, one additional specification of dry weather tyre may be made available to all teams for evaluation purposes.” The Italian tyre maker adds that the option to try out new tyres “will be entirely at the discretion of the FIA, together with Pirelli, and it will only be exercised if the correct opportunity arises.”

At some events, Pirelli continues, all the teams could be supplied with an additional specification of dry weather tyre to test during Friday’s two free practice sessions. The amendment sets out that “two sets of these tyres will be allocated to each driver for use during P1 and P2, and any such tyres must be returned to the tyre supplier before the start of P3.” Teams will be informed about any such additional specification at least one week before the start of the relevant event.

“The latest amendments to the Sporting Regulations are simply another part of our pre-season preparations as we build up to our Grand Prix debut in just over two weeks time,” commented Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery. “We needed to put in place a mechanism within the regulations now to allow us to test new tyres in a competitive context this year if necessary, and it’s great that we have this possibility open to us because we are already hard at work defining the specification of our tyres for the future. Without this potential opportunity we would be unable to test with a current car and would be relying solely on a previous generation vehicle, so it could be a good solution to the testing issue for both ourselves and the teams.”

Another rule amendment approved by the World Motor Sport Council with immediate effect is the facility to allocate an additional set of prime tyres at selected races this year: “In this instance, the additional set will be available for use during P1 and P2. One set of ‘prime’ tyres must then be returned to the tyre supplier after P1, and two further sets of ‘prime’ and one set of ‘option’ specification tyres returned before the start of P3,” the amendment states. Again, provision of any such additional set will be at the discretion of the FIA together with Pirelli; this extra set could be given to the teams at the start of Friday free practice, with the usual tyre regulations applying from then on. Teams would be informed of any addition to the normal allocation at least one week before the start of the relevant event.

“We’re not sure how often or indeed if at all we are going to use these fresh opportunities,” Hembery added. “But the effect is to open up our options by putting in place at an early stage some pre-determined processes before we get into the swing of the season. Both the teams and ourselves are having to take on a lot of data in a comparatively short space of time, so the latest tyre regulation amendments from the World Motor Sport Council could help to accelerate that learning process if required.”