The Aston Martin and McLaren F1 teams are testing for Pirelli at Spa this week, but the tyres that they are running may never be raced. Full Story ⬇️
Pirelli’s programme of no-blanket slick runningPirelli’s hope was to introduce the new tyres in 2024, but at last Friday’s F1 Commission it was agreed to postpone the move to remove blankets, and then have another look for 2025.
Given that the focus of its testing this year has been on running with no blankets Pirelli has dedicated less resource than usual to developing tyres with blankets for 2024, and dealing with the annual increase in downforce levels and general performance that the teams achieve. Asked if Pirelli still has time to turn next month’s Monza session into a test of standard tyres for 2024 he said: “That's a good question. I have to check. I don't know yet! But we are not in summer shutdown, so we can make some prototypes.”
In theory that means the drivers could do some more extensive track running on full wets than was possible last weekend, when visibility with a full field on track was a key factor.