F1 | Pirelli Test: Mick Schumacher also on track with McLaren

Following the race weekend featuring the British Grand Prix, Pirelli and Formula 1 stopped for a few more days at Silverstone for a specific test session dedicated to tyre development for next season.

As is usual practice, each team makes itself available during the championship, or even before the start of the season, to carry out some test sessions with the Milanese manufacturer. In this case, there were three teams to support Pirelli’s work at Silverstone, namely McLaren, Williams and Haas.

After tests in Barcelona, ​​Jerez de la Frontera, Suzuka, Le Castellet and Mugello, this one in Great Britain represents the same test session for Pirelli. Williams took to the track with official driver Alexander Albon, who scored an excellent ninth place last Sunday, while Haas fielded reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi who, after many simulator sessions, tested the VF-24 for the first time on track.

For McLaren, Mick Schumacher took to the track. The former Haas driver is in fact a reserve for both Mercedes, for which he also does simulator work, and for McLaren. The Woking team, being one of the Star’s customers regarding the supply of the Power Unit, has in fact made an agreement with Mercedes for the sharing of the reserve driver. An expedient already exploited in the past, given that it had drawn up a similar agreement with Renault in 2019 and 2020, with the French brand having made Sergey Sirotkin available in case of need.

It was not the German’s first outing with McLaren, having already tested the 2021 MCL35M last year at Portimao, but it was his first outing with a Woking-designed ground-effects car. Schumacher drove the MCL38 for the first time, completing 53 laps in total, including a best time of 1:37.428. The other two drivers were more active, with Fittipaldi completing 62 laps, while Albon clocked 86 laps.

The test program is focused on finalizing the constructions for 2025, on which only the last details are missing, as well as on the continuation of the development of the compounds. If at the end of May at Le Castellet the work had focused on the softer compounds, given the severity of the Silverstone track, with many fast corners that transmit energy to the tires, Pirelli has clearly placed the focus on the development of the harder compounds, which were also protagonists in the last race weekend.

Alex Albon, Williams, Pirelli Silverstone Test

Photo by: Pirelli

However, the weather conditions and the rain that fell during the day on Tuesday did not allow for consistent laps on dry tyres, which is why it was decided to change the work programme. From slicks, we moved on to experimenting with new solutions for intermediate tyres, comparing their behaviour even without the use of electric blankets.

Last year, the Italian manufacturer had already developed a prototype of intermediates that did not need to be pre-heated, but the teams preferred to postpone its introduction while waiting to see how the full wets behaved with this innovation. Although Pirelli’s main focus remains on improving the full wet, also thanks to the specific test carried out at Le Castellet in May, the intention is also to work on the intermediate.

Testing will continue on Wednesday: McLaren will see Lando Norris, fresh from last Sunday’s podium, while Williams will see the other official driver Logan Sargeant. Haas will continue to give space to the reserves, as Oliver Bearman will be on the track: for the young Englishman, it will be a good opportunity to continue accumulating kilometres and experience on a Formula 1 car while waiting for his debut next year with the American team.