Pirelli promises less degradation in its 2022 F1 tires

On February 28, Pirelli will have a very special celebration: the 150th anniversary of its foundation. That prestigious milestone is accompanied by another very special anniversary, the 115th anniversary of Pirelli’s first sporting victory, the 1907 Paris-Peking race.

This is now history, but the future is just around the corner, since in just over a month, the tests in Barcelona will kick off the adventure of 18-inch tires in Formula 1; a completely new page, which coincides with one of the most profound regulatory changes in the entire history of the highest category.

In a videoconference held this Tuesday, the Director of Sports Activities, Mario Isola , presented the 2022 season, outlining the expectations and challenges.

“The 18-inch project has been conceived differently from the previous ones,” Isola explained, referring to the new tires for the Gran Circo, before talking about the requests that the drivers on the grid had about the new compounds.

“Also the objectives that we have set for ourselves are different. The drivers have asked for a tire that guarantees less overheating and less degradation, and it is understandable that they want to allow themselves aggressive driving. We have accepted the requests and have agreed with the FIA and the FOM the direction to follow, accepting the challenge of manufacturing a completely new tire”.

Pirelli had the support of the teams, who planned a track development program (with cars specially modified to accommodate the first prototypes of the new generation of tyres), but the cooperation with the teams went even further.

“In the last tests in Abu Dhabi,” confirmed Isola, “we were also able to check the behavior of the tires in traffic conditions, as there were ten cars on the track instead of just one as in the previous tests, and we noticed an improvement in terms of superheating, as well as the correct delta between the different compounds”.

At the end of 2022, a performance like in F1 2021?

“We have the simulations provided by the teams,” revealed Isola, “and they tell us that the new cars are not much slower than last year’s cars. At first we were talking about more than three seconds of difference per lap, whereas now that margin is between one second and half a second. I think that if at the beginning of the season the difference is only one second, in the final part of the championship the same level of performance will be reached that we had in 2021.”

Isola’s predictions are obviously based on objective, albeit virtual, data. Pirelli has developed a digital model of the new tires which has been provided to the teams so that they can insert it into their simulators alongside the model of the cars they are already testing before taking them to the real track next month.

“The teams give us their opinion,” concluded Isola, “so we have the opportunity to assess the opinion of 10 different teams. It is a process that allows us to get an idea, but the final confirmation always comes from the track.”

Photos: F1 cars (mulet) with 18-inch tires at the Abu Dhabi test

Sebastian Vettel, adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo Racing C39 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF90 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF90 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine/Renault RS18 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine/Renault RS18 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine/Renault RS18 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine/Renault RS18 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine/Renault RS18 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

George Russell, Mercedes W10 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Steve Etherington/Motorsport Images

Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo Racing C39 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo Racing C39 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo Racing C39 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo Racing C39 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M adapted (muleto) with the Pirelli 18 inches

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M adapted (muleto) with the Pirelli 18 inches

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M adapted (muleto) with the Pirelli 18 inches

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M adapted (muleto) with the Pirelli 18 inches

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M adapted (muleto) with the Pirelli 18 inches

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M adapted (muleto) with the Pirelli 18 inches

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Pierre Gasly, adapted AlphaTauri AT01 (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Pierre Gasly, adapted AlphaTauri AT01 (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Pierre Gasly, adapted AlphaTauri AT01 (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Pietro Fittipaldi, Haas F1 Team VF-19 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Pietro Fittipaldi, Haas F1 Team VF-19 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB15 adapted (muleto) with the 18-inch Pirelli

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images