Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes will conduct 2017 tyre testing for Pirelli at five different circuits beginning next month.
The three teams will each be responsible for eight days of testing on dry and wet-weather rubber and also conduct a final joint test at Yas Marina after the end of the season. They are required to share all data from the tests with the other eight teams.
Ferrari will use a modified SF15-T chassis for the first test. The other teams will also use modified version of the 2015 cars to simulate next year’s higher downforce levels.
Pirelli is introducing wider tyres for 2017 which will see the fronts increase from 245mm wide to 305mm and rears grow from 325mm to 405mm.
| Session | Date | Days | Circuit | Team | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1st-2nd August | 2 | Fiorano | Ferrari | Wet |
| 2 | 3rd-4th August | 2 | Mugello | Red Bull | Dry |
| 3 | 6th-7th September | 2 | Circuit de Catalunya | Ferrari | Dry |
| 4 | 6th-8th September | 3 | Paul Ricard | Mercedes | Dry |
| 5 | 21st-22nd September | 2 | Paul Ricard | Mercedes | Wet |
| 6 | 12th-13th October | 2 | Circuit de Catalunya | Mercedes | Dry |
| 7 | 14th-16th October | 3 | Yas Marina | Red Bull | Dry |
| 8 | 2nd-3rd November | 2 | Yas Marina | Red Bull | Wet |
| 9 | 14th-16th November | 3 | Yas Marina | Ferrari | Dry |
| 10 | 29th November | 1 | Yas Marina | Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes | Final |
Teams will also continue to conduct the planned tests using 2012 to 2014 specification cars running on current tyre dimensions. This includes Mercedes running a 2014 car during next week’s test at Silverstone, Ferrari running at Fiorano on July 16th and Red Bull running at Vallelunga on July 18th and 19th.
2017 F1 season
- Sepang pays Haas compensation for Grosjean’s 2017 crash
- Williams revenues rose in 2017 after Bottas deal with Mercedes
- Australian Grand Prix cost government £56 million last year
- “Grand Prix Driver” takes you inside McLaren’s nightmare final year with Honda
- Undisputed champion: 10 titles name Hamilton top driver of 2017
Will Wood (@willwood)
6th July 2016, 12:52
You mean the three richest, most politically powerful teams in the sport have the rights to first test next year’s prototype tyres?
What a funny little coincidence that is.
Strontium (@strontium)
6th July 2016, 12:57
+1, although given budget constraints I wouldn’t rule out smaller teams declining if they felt that there’s not much to gain
He Man
6th July 2016, 12:59
You could look at it like that – but on the other side of the coin, these are the 3 teams who can most easily bear the cost of the extra days of testing. Look at the latest news from Sauber.
On another point, are these tests available to the public to go and watch? I reckon F1 is missing a trick if not, as they can maybe offer cheap tickets for fans who are willing to attend – gives the sport more exposure (obviously this won’t work for private circuits like Fiorano)
AndyJ
6th July 2016, 14:05
I’m attending the Silverstone test day next week, just £10 a ticket
pSynrg (@psynrg)
7th July 2016, 13:27
Why am I not surprised they are actually charging for this? Still, outrageous that they are…
Dan (@danb)
7th July 2016, 13:34
Much cheaper than the last test in 2014 – I paid £30 at the gate for that. A two-day ticket next week is £15.
I think they charge about 10 Euros for testing at Barcelona too.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
6th July 2016, 16:47
@willwood Pirelli could offer it to Sauber, but you know, they never have the money to run tests.
But a better solution could be to make FIA subside the expenses for the teams which can’t go on their own, so all 11 teams would have at least a car there.
PeterG
6th July 2016, 14:54
So we know which 3 teams will have the advantage next season then.
With tyres in the current era been so critical to performance & results any extra track time you have over a rival is going to give you a far greater understanding of how the tyres work & that is going to give you a huge advantage over the other teams.
They should have ensured that every team could take part in these test’s (By Pirelli, The FIA & FOM footing all cost’s) or not had them at all because doing it this way is simply not fair to those who aren’t taking part.
Eoin (@eoin16)
6th July 2016, 15:54
All of the data is being given to all the other teams. Everything team on the grid will have the exact same data.
Yes tires work differently on different cars but it’s not like the other teams are being kept completely in the dark about what’s going on
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
7th July 2016, 17:17
@eoin16 Yes the other teams will get all the data but that’s no replacement for doing the running yourself with your own drivers because there are a lot of details that your not going to get from second hand information, Mainly how the tyres actually feel & how they react to specific things that your doing with your car.
You can be told what sort of performance to expect, What sort of temperatures there running at & what the wear rates were but all of those values are so different from car to car that been told what they did on a Mercedes will be largely irrelevant on a Force India to the point where been given that data will be of very little use.
Regardless of how much data the other teams are given from these test’s the 3 teams actually doing the testing & the drivers that will be doing it are going to go into 2017 with a significant head start over the other teams/drivers.
Eoin (@eoin16)
7th July 2016, 22:04
@gt-racer Very good point!
petebaldwin (@)
6th July 2016, 15:06
I’d say it’s not fair but in a sport that is already deeply unfair in sporting, financial and governance aspects, what’s the point?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th July 2016, 15:37
As He Man says, the decision to run with Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari probably has a lot to do with costs rather than sporting (un)fairness. Though, again, they could be use an old Lotus like they used to do…
Janet54321
6th July 2016, 17:15
I hope they make those tyres more resistant to debris.
Dan (@danb)
6th July 2016, 19:17
The article mentions that Mercedes will be testing a 2014 chassis at Silverstone next week. I assume this is in addition to their 2016 car?
HK (@me4me)
6th July 2016, 23:42
The thing is that cars have to be modified in order to simulate 2017 downforce levels. That not only means high df setup but also specially designed, strengthened suspension. Only the well funded teams can afford to do this. Other teams will get access to the data anyway, so its hardly unfair.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
7th July 2016, 17:23
@me4me The other teams will be given access to the data but getting this sort of data second hand is no replacement to been out there running & getting it yourself’s with your own cars/drivers.
Been told how a tyre works on a Mercedes, Red Bull & Ferrari will be of very little use to the other teams given how every car is different & has vastly different characteristics when it comes to how it uses its tyres. The teams doing the testing will have far more information because they know the exact & precise characteristics of there cars & there drivers will have a far better feeling for how the new tyres work on that car compared to the existing tyres & its those sorts of comparative details that will be of far more use than the data the rest of the teams will be given.
HK (@me4me)
8th July 2016, 4:07
@gt-racer, its not relevant how the tyres perform on an individual, modified 2015 car. What the teams need is a combined set of data from all 3 of the cars in order to learn something about the tyres. Besides, the 2017 cars will be very different.
Bart
7th July 2016, 9:03
To let all three of the top teams test seems much better to me than having just one or two of them test, or none.
Most likely the 2017 WDC will be from one of those teams anyway.
Better have them all in the same situation.
From Pirelli’s perspective it is ideal to have the best teams test their tires, as they will likely produce more useful data than the struggling backmarker teams could provide.