Pirelli satisfied after collecting 'preliminary data' on 18-inch tyres

Pirelli says that it is happy with the "preliminary data' it collected on its 18-inch tyres at a two-day test at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Sergey Sirotkin got behind the wheel of a modified Renault R.S.18 that replicated downforce levels that are expected in 2021, when the new design of tyres will be used by all teams.

The test occurred last week on Thursday and Friday, and was the first of three that will be carried out this year, with McLaren and Mercedes set to test for the Italian marque in the next couple of months. 

“We were delighted to open up a brand new chapter at Paul Ricard, with the debut for our 18-inch tyres – which will change the face of Formula 1 – taking place alongside our latest development test for next year’s 13-inch tyres," said Pirelli's head of F1 Mario Isola.

"Renault provided a 2018 mule car for the 18-inch test, with Sergey Sirotkin driving to mark this historic moment. We completed our planned programme as expected, covering 213 laps with the 18-inch tyres over two days.

"This was very useful for us to take a first look at the new generation of tyres and start shaping the development path that we will follow for the remainder of this year and next year.

"Of course, it is hard to read too much into this test as these are still very early days, but we have accumulated all the preliminary data that we wanted in good weather conditions, so thank you very much to Renault and to Sergey for their availability."

Esteban Ocon was also present at the testing, driving with Pirelli's 2020 prototype tyres in his last test for Mercedes before his move to Renault. 

"With the 13-inch 2020 tyres, we covered 212 laps over the two days thanks to Esteban Ocon and Mercedes.

"The work consisted of assessing a range of prototype slick tyres, as we begin to finalise next year’s specification: the last season of 13-inch tyres before we move on to 18 inches in 2021.”