Pirelli has brushed off the current uncertainty over Formula 1 in 2021 but admits a final agreement is needed soon.
The Italian tyre supplier has already committed their future to the sport, signing a new four-year deal last year until the end of 2023, and is now watching on as teams and Liberty Media continue talks to draw up a new Concorde Agreement.
“There are so many discussions on the future of F1, the new cars of 2021, and the change of size and so on that I’m optimistic,” head of motorsport, Mario Isola is quoted by RACER.
“There are a lot of discussions around that. I think that it’s normal in Formula 1 when you have such a big change like the renewal of the agreement amongst teams and FOM that it’s a delicate situation, but we’re happy that we committed for a long period on our side.”
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As part of their new agreement, however, Pirelli will be introducing a whole new tyre in 2021 with 18-inch rims compared to the current 13-inch and the use of tyre blankets will also be prohibited.
While development has already begun on that project because “we cannot wait”, the main issue Pirelli face is being blind to the current 2021 cars.
“What we can do is adapt the tyres, the design, to the new rules when they are available,” Isola noted. “But we need to know at least 80-90 per cent of the expected performance of the cars as soon as possible… without that information, it is really a challenge.
“We have two years in front of us before using the 18-inch tyres so it’s important that we use this time in a good way. We cannot lose time but I believe we can do something good if we have the right process.”