This week we have seen the further testing and integration of the new 18-inch tyres for the 2022 Formula 1 season.
InsideF2 caught up with Pirelli’s motorsport boss Mario Isola to discuss his Career, Pirelli, Formula 2 and the new transition to these wheels in 2022 for Formula 1.
F1 currently sport 13-inch wheels on their cars, but the introduction of new regulations next year will see that increase significantly.
“The 18-inch wheels are more relevant to not only Pirelli but to what people use on the roads.”
“We aim to transfer technology from Motorsport to road cars.”
Formula 2 has already made the switch, while the Italian tyre supplier remained in Bahrain following the season-opening race last month to continue testing.
“We had one day with Ferrari and two days with Alpine, all with the race drivers,” Isola said of the test.
“It was very helpful to confirm what we already saw in the past.
“We are now in the process of finalising the construction and the profile for the slick tyre and it was good conformation, with both cars.”
The Pirelli team will continue to spend time with all of the F1 teams as they look to fine-tune all of the compounds.
He explained why F2 had the new set up first.
“Having spoken to Formula 2, it was decided that because this is the school for Formula 1, we need to anticipate this change and introduce the young drivers to them first.”
We asked Mario about the forthcoming F2 test and what they will be looking out for specifically.
“When we conduct our tests we have only one car. However, when we are looking at official test sessions we can review much more information when all of the cars are on track. We can see how they perform in traffic and with different conditions such as cars following and losing downforce.”
“There are elements like these that are impossible to be collected when we have our specific development sessions.”
We discussed plenty more with Mario during our upcoming InsideChat series on YouTube.
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