Why did Michelin choose to postpone the introduction of its new tires until 2026?

Expected in IMSA and WEC In 2025, the next Michelin tire for GTPs and Hypercars will wait one more year before making its competition debut. “ We have started to carry out a development loop in 2023, confesses Pierre Alves, manager of the Michelin four-wheel competition, during the 6 Hours of São Paulo, 5th round of the world championshipEndurance 2024 contested in mid-July in Brazil. It's a long process, because we learn on each session. Then we analyze, we redo the tires to test them a little later. This is why the development loops are spaced fairly far apart in time. »

One of these loops was organized in Bahrain in November 2023, following the last race of the WEC season with all manufacturers. “ We focused on Hard tires, continues Pierre Alves. We focused development on the integration of sustainable materials, because we are targeting the 50% mark with the future range. » For comparison, the current structure is made up of 30% sustainable materials.

After this first session in the Middle East, the second was scheduled for March of this