Pirelli F1 boss concedes that the new 18-inch tire performances are "uncertain"

Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola has revealed that the tire supplier is unsure about the performance of the new 18-inch tires. All F1 teams, bar Williams, have tested the new tires at various times throughout the 2021 season. Regardless, Isola believes that there are still uncertainties that are “impossible to avoid” due to sweeping regulation changes in the upcoming season.

When asked if Pirelli was still uncertain about the new tires during a post-season interview with GPFans, Isola said:

“There is a level (of uncertainty), it’s impossible to avoid that. We were working in parallel on simulations and the simulations are giving us some numbers also because the teams now have a model of the car that is quite good, quite reliable, because they converge, and we receive a simulation from all the teams.”

“We have 10 different models. The first release was... one car was here, the other car was there so it was a bit difficult, differences in lap times (were) crazy, so it was a bit difficult to understand which the real performance was expected for next year’s cars.”

Isola says the biggest regulatory change for the upcoming season that affects tire performance and integrity is related to brakes and rims. Controlling the heat transfer from the wheel rims and brakes to the tires is crucial for optimum tire performance.

Since the 2022 brakes and wheel rims are significantly different compared to the last generation, the new tires have to adapt to their heat transfer characteristics.

While teams tested the tires on mule cars with modified suspensions, Isola says that wheel covers were not used during the majority of those tests. Pirelli believes the wheel cover will have a significant impact on heat transfer and has taken measures to account for it. Wheel covers, however, might have an unforeseen impact on tire integrity and performance.

---

Pirelli needs to avoid F1 potential tire failure in 2022

With the switch to 18-inch tires in the 2022 season, Pirelli has a huge responsibility to shoulder. The Italian company is the sole F1 tire supplier and provides identical tire compounds to all ten teams on the grid for every race weekend.

While teams are busy trying to find solutions to claw back the downforce lost due to the new regulations, the tire manufacturer is equally busy ensuring that its new tire compounds perform in an optimal and, most importantly, a safe manner. The last thing anybody wants is for the tires to fail during race weekends.

In the past, Pirelli’s tire compounds have failed on certain race weekends due to unforeseen factors. The latest example was the Qatar Grand Prix last season when more than five cars were taken out of contention due to their tires “de-laminating”.

Famously, Lewis Hamilton won the 2020 British Grand Prix on just three wheels, when his left front tire completely disintegrated on the penultimate lap owing to unexpectedly high degradation.

With F1 hoping to produce better racing in 2022 with cars designed to follow each other closely, Pirelli has to ensure that their tires are up to the task. A driver fighting for the win taken out of contention due to a tire failure would have a negative impact on the sport.