Lewis Hamilton returns to drive a Ferrari, and for the primary time, he does so aboard the SF-24. Not like the latest TPC exams, which concerned using vehicles at the very least two years previous, the continuing exams in Barcelona are a part of Pirelli’s growth program for the 2026 tires, with McLaren additionally collaborating. The vehicles on monitor are 2024 fashions, however in a particular configuration designed to duplicate, as a lot as attainable, the traits of subsequent 12 months’s vehicles.
The 2026 updates
The aims of the take a look at require important modifications to the vehicles, limiting references to the earlier season, and, in Lewis Hamilton’s case, the familiarization with the most recent Ferrari. Probably the most important distinction considerations the tires, which have been revised in development and compound, being very completely different from the present ones. For 2026, Pirelli has chosen to proceed with the 18-inch diameter wheels, narrowing the entrance tires by 25 mm and the rear ones by 30 mm. Regardless of this discount, nevertheless, the vehicles in Barcelona don’t function any adjustments to the braking system.
The 2026 tires are designed to work underneath completely different masses than the present ones. Particularly, the next-generation vehicles will use lively wings at each the entrance and rear, considerably decreasing aerodynamic load in straights. Nonetheless, Pirelli’s focus is on the stresses skilled in corners when the vehicles shut the wings, transitioning to a configuration with greater aerodynamic load. “Now we have centered our evaluation on the high-load mode, which presently reveals values about 15% decrease than the present ones,” defined Mario Isola. Therefore, the necessity to conduct the event exams on the 2024 vehicles in a particular low-downforce setup.
Larger and lighter vehicles
The distinction in aerodynamic load between the intermediate configuration and the low-downforce one usually utilized in Monza is about 10%. In Barcelona, Ferrari and McLaren are operating with an much more aggressive setup, decreasing the wing profiles as a lot as attainable, however not solely that. By elevating the experience peak by just some millimeters, they lose some load, approaching the anticipated values for 2026.
Elevating the present vehicles can be practical to a different aim of the Pirelli exams. The upcoming laws might encourage groups to make use of floor impact much less aggressively, elevating the ground to work farther from the bottom. “There are completely different opinions about it; work is being completed in sure instructions, nevertheless it’s nonetheless not fully clear,” mentioned Haas Technical Director Andrea de Zordo in a latest interview for the Italian media. “They most likely received’t be as little as they’re now, however maybe not as excessive as they as soon as have been.”
The 2026 vehicles could possibly be taller and fewer inflexible than the present ones, which, operating very near the bottom, require robust stabilizing motion from the suspension system. Subsequently, Pirelli has each curiosity in elevating the 2024 vehicles within the exams and softening their suspension changes, components that significantly have an effect on how forces are transmitted to the tires. One other essential distinction between the Ferrari and McLaren that fought for the title in Abu Dhabi and people presently testing in Barcelona.
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