Mercedes and Aston Martin are busy today and tomorrow in the Pirelli tests on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit. The Milanese company continues the development of the 2025 tyres, after the session that saw Ferrari busy in Barcelona with the two starting drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who alternated at the wheel of the only SF-23.
In Andalusia the Milanese technicians hope to find more favorable conditions in terms of temperature compared to those seen in Montmelò, where it was rather cold (average 12-14 degrees on the asphalt).
The objective of the staff led by Mario Isola is to study and control tire overheating, a topic that is not easy to analyze because the ideal would be to stop the car when the driver sees on the steering wheel display that the limit has been reached. overeating. The ideal would be to allow Italian technicians to obtain “hot” data when this problem occurs.
In reality, the teams carry out a work plan for which there is no provision for a possible stop on the track, but there is the normal completion of the stint which however leads to changes in the chemical conditions when the information is collected. In this case, not only the collection of telemetry data becomes very important, but also the indications that come from the drivers who can evaluate the variations in tire behavior regardless of the lap time.
It is no coincidence, therefore, that in this Pirelli test plan the teams involve only the starting drivers: today in Jerez de la Frontera Lewis Hamilton on the Mercedes W14 and Fernando Alonso on the Aston Martin AMR23 are involved. There are nine world titles on the track. Both the Englishman and the Asturian will be able to make an important contribution to the development of slick tires in the 18-inch configuration in the last year, given that from 2026 F1 has decided to switch to the smaller 16-inch tires to contribute to the reduction in weight of the single-seater.
Tomorrow it will be George Russell's turn with the black arrow and Lance Stroll on the “verdona”. We remember that on the day in which Hamilton's sensational move to Ferrari took place, the youngest English driver was in Milan at the Pirelli Headquarters for a pre-season meeting that the Mercedes team had planned with the managers of the sole supplier.
This year George will have the first driver's seat at Brackley and will have to demonstrate that he can take the Mercedes team on his shoulders, despite having to deal with the seven-time world champion.
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