Pirelli and Ferrari are planning a special test to try out new tires for Formula 1. This test will happen over two days. On the first day, they will test dry tires with a new design for the year 2025. Then, on the second day, they will test wet tires with a new extreme compound.
The test is important because testing wet tires is not easy. Pirelli needs special tracks like Paul Ricard or Fiorano, where they can wet the track artificially with sprinklers.
The chief engineer at Pirelli, Simone Berra, explained the goals of the test. He said, “We have two test days. The first one is a dry session. For the second one we wet the track. We are testing both wet and intermediates, but the priority one is the wet. We would like to improve its performance.”
Currently, Pirelli’s blue-rimmed rain tires have been criticized for losing performance compared to intermediate tires. There are also concerns about visibility in heavy rain conditions.
Berra said they want to improve wet tire performance by reducing overheating and improving durability. They also plan to make changes to intermediate tires to improve them.
The goal is to have better tires ready for the 2025 season. However, if the test at Le Castellet goes well, they might introduce changes earlier.
On the first day of testing with Ferrari, Pirelli will focus on finalizing the tire structure for 2025. They will also test prototypes of softer compounds for next year.
Berra said, “For the slick test on day one we are mainly focused on freezing the structure for next season. But more importantly, we will try to test C3, C4 and C5 as well at compound level. For the C5 I think it’s the first time this season we are testing it. So, it will be interesting to see some results for the next-generation compound.”
Before this test, Ferrari had already tested wet tires at Fiorano to try out new spray guards. However, this previous test was not successful.
