Pirelli to test new Wet tyres and revised qualifying at Imola

Pirelli revealed they will introduce a new Wet Tyre for the Formula 1 teams to test at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend at Imola, as well as a tweaked qualifying rule.

Both experiment are done with sustainability in mind, as the new Wet Tyre to be sampled at Imola will not require to be heated by tyre blankets as part of the experimenting the sport is undergoing with the proposed plans to ban tyre heating blankets in the future, which could be as soon as 2024 should a unanimous agreement by teams and F1 management be reached.

The other testing exercise Pirelli will run, will see a revised qualifying session where all teams are required to use all tyre compounds, Hard, Medium, and Soft during qualifying, which will reduce each team’s allocation of slick tyres by two sets, a step towards a more sustainable practice by the Italian tyre manufacturer.

Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Mario Isola, quoted by F1’s Official Website, explained: “At Imola we will be testing a new regulation that requires teams to use a different type of compound for each of the three sessions, with the hards fitted for Q1, the mediums for Q2, and the softs for Q3.

Sustainability is behind these new tyre experiments

“This means a reduction – from 13 to 11 – of the sets of dry tyres that each driver has available for the entire event, therefore decreasing the environmental impact generated by the production and transport of the tyres,” he added.

As for the new wet tyres, Isola said: “Also with the same end [sustainability] in mind, starting with this Grand Prix a new compound for Full Wet tyres will be introduced that will not require the use of thermal blankets before being used.

“Track tests have shown even better performance than the previous Cinturato Blue Full Wet, even without electrically heating the tyre, he revealed.

“This is a first concrete step, the result of studies carried out by Pirelli, toward the use of dry tires without preheating as well,” Isola concluded.

Pirelli will also be introducing new tyre compounds from Silverstone onwards that should be better suited to take the extra loads the 2023 F1 cars are putting on the rubber as teams have been able to generate considerably more downforce in the second year of the current regulations.