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Pirell's F1 boss Mario Isola confessed he was pleased with the new tires after the first race of the 2022 season in Bahrain.
The Italian spoke to the media in a press conference alongside Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto and McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl. When asked to share his thoughts on the tires and the data they gathered after the race in Sakhir, Isola said:
"I am quite happy with the performance of the tires, especially during the first race, where we had a clear indication of it. There are some elements that are slightly different compared to our tire test last year because we were using mule cars. So, cars that are different compared to current ones like slightly higher degradation and delta lap times between compounds."
The season opener in Bahrain saw overtakes galore between multiple drivers, something that was one of the primary targets for F1 when they introduced sweeping regulation changes for this season. Isola went on to add:
"This information is useful for us to make a plan for this season in order to further develop the tires for 2023. But we had the action on track. We had overtaking."
"We had cars (being) able to race closely, and that was one of our main targets of the new era in Formula 1, so I am happy with that. It's a bit early to make a final assessment. We need to wait for other circuits."
Pirelli boss feels 2022 F1 season could see majority of one-stop races
Earlier, Isola had predicted that the 2022 season would see most teams opting for one-stop strategies on account of the new tires made by Pirelli.
The Italian tire manufacturer worked in conjunction with all F1 teams months prior to the start of the season to engineer the new low-profile tires to match the 18-inch wheels.
In an interview with Tire Technology International, the Italian had said:
“We are expecting a performance that is in line with the current tires, but the car is different, the downforce is different and maybe we will have a small difference in performance."
"I’m expecting most of the races will be one-stop, simply because if you have less degradation there is no reason to have more than one stop. If we have really close racing and we have action on track, who cares about the pit stops?”
Pirelli was also praised by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, who lost count of the number of overtakes he saw during the Bahrain GP, which he credited to the Italian tire makers.
