Pirelli is preparing to face the last part of the 2022 Formula 1 season, without forgetting the future. Not only the thoughts towards 2024 tires, when the tire warmers will be abolished: During two free practice sessions, to be precise the Free Practice 2 at Suzuka and Austin, the Italian manufacturer, the only tire supplier of the world champion Circus, will test prototypes for the next season.
Free Practice 2 of the Japanese and United States Grand Prix will be extended, from 60 to 90 minutes, to allow the teams to test the tires that will be delivered to them by Pirelli. The goal is to have data, feedback and opinions from the teams to understand which tires will then be presented and used in Formula 1 in 2023.
Mario Isola explained how Pirelli will use the two free practice sessions. The car racing manager of the Italian company also confirmed the fact that each car will have different programs, with the specific intent of preventing teams from having advantages in view of next year.
“At the moment we have another test with Red Bull on the Tuesday after the Italian Grand Prix, in Monza. And then we asked about the event tests. Basically we will use Free Practice 2 at Suzuka, at the Japanese Grand Prix; in Austin, home to the US Grand Prix and Mexico City. The latter will be a reserve event in case of rain in Suzuka or Texas. It will be a test for all 20 cars. “
“Each car will have a different test plan. Each single-seater can have different prototypes. We will make run plans with the same number of laps, because we don’t want to give any advantages to anyone. So let’s say very similar run plans, but with different prototypes. Practice 2 will be 90 minutes, not 60. So we will have a little more flexibility. In terms of session, for the teams it will be similar to a normal practice session, because then it is clear that we have to take into account the mileage of the power units. that will be used “.
And it is precisely the mileage of the rotating engines for each driver that Pirelli pays particular attention to. It is good to try material for next season, indeed necessary, but it will not be possible to exceed on exploiting the engines in use because they are valid in the count of the current season.
“We can’t increase the mileage of the power units compared to their systems and so on. It’s complicated, because every time you find a solution, you also find problems in the solutions themselves. The idea of using Free 2 is a good idea. . You don’t force the teams to move to a different place, you don’t force them to stay longer like Tuesdays and Wednesdays on the circuit, but then you have to use the same car they use for the rest of the weekend, with the same engine. So mileage is a problem. “
“Whenever we have an idea we have to discuss it for weeks to find a definitive solution that works. I believe that with the current plan we have a good solution, at least for the moment. Obviously this is the first time. So we will have to check whether it will work or not. The idea is to have all these types of tests available for the future, so when we have the European season, after a few races, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays we can use some teams available for tire tests, devote all day to testing. “.
Isola then concluded by underlining how tests entirely dedicated to tires have a greater chance of being better exploited by the teams and by Pirelli itself. Possible problems of reliability, but also of weather, could in fact compromise the session and not let the prototype tires be used.
“The problem, however, is that if it rains in Free 2, it’s over. When you have a day, it may rain, I don’t know, in the morning, but then the track is dry and you can use at least part of the day. Or, if a mechanical problem occurs during the 90 minutes, the machine will not be able to run for the rest of the test. ”
“It is not possible to plan the mechanical problem, or predict it. So we have to work on different solutions. For the future, therefore, I said that we will have dedicated tests. We have a longer period for testing. At the moment we can try until mid-December and from 1 February with the 2022 car, not with a new single-seater, of course. And we will also keep the tests in the race “, concluded Isola.
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