Pirelli done with last development tyre test for F1 2026 in Mexico

FormulaRapida.net

2 months ago

Pirelli undertook its final F1 2026 tyre test in Mexico with Sauber and Mercedes as they focused on the softer range.

Day 1 –

Pirelli’s last development test for the 2026 Formula 1 tyres before all the teams get to try them at the post-season session after this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is currently taking place at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. Fresh from his 10th place at the Mexican Grand Prix last weekend, Gabriel Bortoleto took to the track today (Tuesday 28 October) driving a mule car based on the current Sauber C45.

Pirelli tested the softer tyres in the new range throughout the day, from C3 to C6. In the morning, the Brazilian driver sampled all the options available, starting with the softest compounds before moving onto some harder tyres to take advantage of the progressive rise in track temperature. The first hours targeted performance runs, which were useful for Pirelli’s engineers to assess the gaps between the different compounds in terms of lap time. In the afternoon, the best options identified during the morning were put to the test with longer runs up to 15 laps, in order to measure degradation levels.

Gabriel Bortoleto completed 136 laps today, covering 585.344 kilometres in total. His best time of 1m19.089s was set on lap 45. Weather conditions remained stable throughout the day, with clear skies and track temperatures that peaked at 51°C. The Pirelli test will continue tomorrow, with Valtteri Bottas driving a mule car based on the 2024 Mercedes W15. The Finn will follow a run plan similar to that carried out by Bortoleto today.

Day 2 –

The final day of Pirelli 2026 tyre development testing took place on Wednesday, October 29, in Mexico City. Kicking off the action was Valtteri Bottas, third driver for the Mercedes-AMG F1 team, at the wheel of a mule car based on the current W16 chassis. The Finnish driver tested the softer compounds in the range, from C3 to C6, in a similar programme to that carried out by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto on Tuesday. Most of the work focused on the hardest compound within that range, which is most often chosen for race weekends during the season.

After several performance runs, each preceded by a warm-up lap to bring the tyres up to the correct temperature, Bottas completed the evaluation of the C3 compound with a series of long runs. Bottas carried out a similar run plan, including performance runs, with the remaining compounds – chosen based on the tests conducted by Bortoleto the previous day – to analyse performance differences in terms of lap time and degradation levels.

In the late afternoon, Frederik Vesti (who participated in FP1 at the Mexico Grand Prix for Mercedes) took over the car, testing several different tyre structures throughout 10-lap runs. The best time set by the Danish driver was 1m19.657s on lap 41, while Bottas set a benchmark of 1m18.204s on lap 109. These lap times, however, are not relevant to each other, as each driver was following a different programme.

Over the course of the day, a total of 161 laps were completed (112 laps for Bottas and 49 for Vesti) covering 693 kilometres, in track conditions very similar to those of the previous day with asphalt temperature peaking at 49°C. A total of 1,278 kilometres were covered at the Hermanos Rodríguez circuit during the two days of testing. The next test for the 2026 tyres is scheduled for Tuesday, December 9, in Abu Dhabi, at the official test with all the teams after the final grand prix of the season.