Pirelli to continue testing new tyres at Monza

2016 Italian Grand Prix

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Pirelli will run its development tyres for the second time during practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

The new tyres are designed to better withstand damage caused by debris and are being considered for introduction later this year. The unmarked tyres will again be offered for teams to run during Friday’s practice sessions only.

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery says the soft compound tyres tested at Spa “contain certain new elements that are designed to further improve resistance to multiple impacts”.

Debris was blamed for Sebastian Vettel’s tyre blow-out during the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this year. During the Belgian Grand PRix Carlos Sainz Jnr and Felipe Nasr both sustained punctures following first-lap incidents.

This weekend’s Italian Grand Prix will see the first appearance of Pirelli’s super-soft tyres at the Monza track.

“With the super-soft coming to Monza for the first time we might also see some record top speeds in qualifying,” said Hembery. “Last year we saw the majority of competitors opt for a one-stop strategy, but the arrival of the super-soft could make multi-stop options more attractive this time.”

In the week after the Italian Grand Prix Pirelli will continue its development of new, wider tyres for 2017 in tests with Ferrari at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain and Mercedes at Paul Ricard in France.

2016 Italian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    8 comments on “Pirelli to continue testing new tyres at Monza”

    1. Are they staying with those ridiculously high pressures for Monza or was that only for Spa to cope with Eau Rouge?

      1. I guess it will be a tad lowre than Spa yeah.

    2. I can’t believe Pirelli were considered for this new contract. Their tyres are awful and dare I say dangerous, their demand to run these sky high pressures is beyond a joke it really is….m

      1. Pirelli are just working to the spec they’ve been given (by FOM) designed to degrade. If you do that, it’s only reasonable to expect some fragility. If the spec was to make bullet proof tires that run with a PSI of 16 and never degrade, they can do that too.

        1. I agree with you. Except Pirelli are being asked to make wet matches that stay lit. I really think designed to degrade safely, as you suggest with the word fragility, is harder to do than F1A/FOM/Pirelli realised.

      2. Since Michelin insisted on wanting to change the wheel rim sizes, something the teams were against, it’s not as if there really was even much to choose from. And off course Bernie had already prepared a nice financial deal for FOM.

    3. Pirelli is always testing, but there is no too much advance.

    4. digitalrurouni
      30th August 2016, 14:13

      I think I feel a bit bad for Pirelli but I also hate their product a lot – in the context of F1. Their road tires are surprisingly good on my Spyder. But anyway what I think will solve the problem is to allow Pirelli access to the actual cars they are building their tires for during development. Wasn’t there some stupid rule that’s been followed along all these years that they don’t get access to the latest machinery? So it’s more like they are always playing a game of catch up. More testing needs to be allowed throughout the year. So that tire evolution can also take place. Yes make egg shell tires but at least let the drivers be able to push for their stint. In the Spa race when Lewis was right on the back of Ricciardo and had to pit, if he had more durable tires then he could have made it a very exciting last 15 laps or so! Rather it was a snoozefest. No point in circulating for 15 more laps if there’s no action! Might as well end the race there save gas and engines and just call it done!

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