Mario Isola discusses about how the F1 tyres have fared so far in the 2022 season, as he adds on changes to come in 2023.
Along with the changes in F1 regulations in 2022, Pirelli switched from 13-inches to 18-inches compound for road relevancy. The switch has worked well thus far with the Italian manufacturer pleased with the racing action without any major trouble on tyre side.
Pirelli chief Isola is happy with how the things have worked out where drivers are able to push in their stints and that they have somewhat achieved the target they set out for. “I’m happy with that result,” he said. “That was the main target for us, to give drivers a tyre where they are able to push on for the duration of the stint.
“Obviously, it’s not just the tyres, it’s the car package that is working well. If you don’t lose downforce when you follow another car, that’s a big helper for the tyres. But I believe the new 18-inch tyres are designed in the right way and able to achieve the targets. So, we have already in mind some upgrades for next year. But considering it is the first year with a completely new product I’m quite happy with the result and the show,” summed up Isola.
Having touched upon lightly on the 2023 changes above, Isola expanded on what they are working for next year where they are focusing on making the front tyre stronger which they couldn’t with the mule car as the understeer was not visible then.
“We almost finalised the new construction both front and rear for next year,” said Isola. “We have to consider that the cars are improving the performance. So, we have always to follow with the construction of the tyres in order to avoid an increase of pressure that is too high. As I said already, we are working to design a stronger front tyre because the feedback in general for these cars is that they have more understeer in low-speed corners.
“That was unfortunately not visible with the mule cars last year. So, we have to rebalance a little bit the front with the rear: the rear is very strong, the traction is good, so, we were not planning to change massively the rear tyre. We have some ideas on the new compounds. As I said, the test was positive.
“We were a bit worried for the first day because there was a chance of rain and obviously that was not ideal for us. But at the end it was raining just at the end of the afternoon and the track was still in good condition. We have one day with Red Bull in Monza after the race and we are going to finalise the construction for next year, in the in-event test in the second half of the season, the idea is to finalise also the compounds,” summed up Isola.
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