The work began yesterday on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona for Pirelli’s 2026 preparations has concluded with the assist of Ferrari and McLaren, who additionally ran immediately with an SF-24 single-seater and an MCL60, the McLaren automobile from the 2023 Components 1 championship, which hit the observe in a low-downforce aerodynamic configuration. This setup aimed to copy, not less than partly, the grip situations anticipated in 2026, when Components One will introduce a brand new regulatory framework that may make automobiles, not less than initially, slower than the present ones, particularly in corners.
The identical three drivers from yesterday continued working immediately with Pirelli engineers on the event of the 2026 tires. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton shared a Ferrari SF-24, whereas Oscar Piastri was on the wheel of a McLaren MCL60. Each automobiles had been modified to accommodate the prototype tires designed based on the brand new technical laws coming into drive subsequent yr, with the entrance tires being 25 millimeters narrower and the rear tires 30 millimeters narrower than the present ones.
A complete of 300 laps had been accomplished immediately: 74 by the Monegasque driver, 74 by his British teammate, and 152 by the Australian. Listed here are the quickest lap occasions recorded, although they maintain little actual significance given the completely different testing applications carried out for Pirelli by the 2 groups: 1.14.971 for Charles Leclerc, 1.16.759 for Lewis Hamilton, and 1.15.815 for Oscar Piastri.
Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola said that the session had been very helpful, notably for evaluating completely different tire constructions for the following season and experimenting with some compounds from the more durable finish of the vary. The Italian supervisor famous that the Barcelona circuit was recognized to be some of the demanding for tires as a result of power exerted and degradation, making the info gathered over the 2 intense days extremely essential for the long run growth of that tire technology. He additionally talked about that it was a really busy begin to the yr, with 4 check periods going down even earlier than the season started, and expressed his gratitude to all of the groups working with Pirelli, acknowledging how busy they had been at that second.
After final week’s checks at Paul Ricard and this one on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Pirelli’s staff of engineers will head additional south subsequent week for a two-day check on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Andalusia on February 13 and 14. Alpine will take part on each days, whereas McLaren and Mercedes will every have someday of testing. The ultimate pre-season check will happen on the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain on March 2 and three, with Alpine and Williams on observe each days. This similar venue will then host the one three-day check the place all groups will run their 2025 automobiles earlier than the opening spherical, the Australian Grand Prix.
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