Extension granted to validate 2020 Pirelli tires

The Italian manufacturer obtained an additional two-day test to finalize the construction of its future compounds. These runs will take place on October 7 and 8 on the Barcelona circuit. If the unanimous approval of the teams was theoretically required to unlock these additional tests, the FIA ​​was able to have them adopted with a majority of 70% in the name of safety.

Initially, the development program for next season concluded with the 212 laps of the Paul-Ricard circuit completed by Esteban Ocon et Mercedes last September 12 and 13.

Except that Pirelli was not completely certain that its future envelopes, the last in 13-inch format before the transition to 18-inches in 2021, meet the official roadmap. Remember that this mission order was modified during the season following complaints from several teams regarding a window for using tires considered too restricted.

The slingers, Red Bull in the lead, had even tried to change the architecture of the tires during a tragicomic vote at the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June. In the wake of this inglorious episode, Pirelli was invited to review its copy for 2020.

“We have received new requests: wider operating window, and reduction of surface overheating, rewound Mario Isola, competition manager at the Milanese manufacturer.

We reacted immediately to adjust the construction of our products and orient them in accordance with the new mission letter. At that time, we only had one test left in our development program for 2020, that of Paul-Ricard. »

Pirelli was able to learn a lot of lessons in the south of France, but the Italian manufacturer believed that an additional test would make it possible to definitively validate the new tires before supplying them to the teams during the traditional Abu Dhabi tests at the end of the season.