Pirelli will learn from the rejected 2020 Formula 1 tyres and the new 18-inch wheels for F2 in developing next year’s product.
2021 will see a major change in wheel design as part of the new regulations with the rims grow from 13 inches currently to 18 inches, something the Italian supplier has pushed for, for years.
Already on-track testing of the new concept is well underway with all teams expected to provide a mule car to help in the development during this season.
And though there was disappointment following the decision not to use the tyre Pirelli had developed for 2020, motorsport boss Mario Isola insists they were not a waste of time.
“There are some concepts in the 2020 tyres that are useful also for 2021,” he told Crash.net.
“When we tested in Abu Dhabi, we said that the 2020 tyres can be used at a lower pressure because the profile and some elements in the construction were designed exactly with this purpose. So it gave the opportunity to the teams to use lower pressure and also understand the other characteristics.
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“The test in Abu Dhabi was a good test, a representative test that highlighted some positive aspects of the 2020 tyres, so we have to take the good part of the concepts that are in the 2020 tyres [and use them for 2021].
“But we need to understand why some of the targets were not achieved because in some cases, we found slightly different results during our tyre development test. It’s important that we understand.
“We already did some analysis and we found some reasons why we had a different result,” Isola revealed.
“This is part of a learning curve for us to also improve the test methodology, the test plan and so on. It’s not easy because we are testing with 10 different teams, 10 different cars.
“For next year we will have mule cars that are not the final version of the 2021 car. There are many elements that are playing a role in this development. This is life, and we need to do our best with the tools that we have. We cannot invent something that we don’t have.”
The Pirelli chief has admitted, however, that the early move to 18-inch wheels in F2 for 2020 will offer some insight and guidance on what to do with their F1 product.
“Formula 2 is different. As usual, we make a different product for Formula 2 for a number of reasons: the level of performance, the fact they are not using tyre blankets and so on and so on,” Isola explained.
“It’s a good way to anticipate potential issues that we have with Formula 1 in 2021. Obviously having a full racing season with Formula 2 is good to collect data, to understand how it works.
“In terms of performance, the Formula 2 18-inch tyres are in line with 13-inch tyres,” he revealed.
“That is a good result because I’m not expecting to have slower cars next year. Maybe at the beginning they will need some time to set up the car, but as a general expectation, it’s not to have slower cars in 2020.
“This is also a good element to analyse for Formula 1 because, in Formula 2, the car is not going to change, so we have a proper tyre comparison between 13 inches and 18 inches.”
