The 2026 Pirelli tyres will have to deal with lower vertical load on the straights, but at much higher speeds. In the corners, however, the load will remain high due to the so-called cornering mode. For this reason, the Milan-based manufacturer will carry out dedicated tests at the start of the season with the new cars, with the aim of ensuring the correct pressure and camber values.
DRS is heading into retirement and this is certainly one of the standout pieces of news regarding the Formula 1 World Championship. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the last race in which it was used in competition, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli being the final driver to benefit from it. But even in Formula 1, nothing is created and nothing is destroyed: everything is transformed.
The Drag Reduction System will no longer exist in the form in which it was originally conceived. From 1 January 2026, Formula 1 will introduce active aerodynamics, a solution that will allow cars to be even faster on the straights, also involving aerodynamic load at the front of the car.
Both wings, in fact, will reduce their angle of incidence to allow the cars to gain efficiency on the straights. This is what is currently known as Straight Line Mode (SLM), a term that will change in the coming weeks to make it more understandable for the wider public, including less specialised fans who attend Grands Prix or happen to come across a Formula 1 race.
This new mode, however, does not only affect the straight-line speed of the cars, but also has several consequences for the tyres that Pirelli has had to take into account. In practice, it is a kind of double DRS, generating less vertical load on the tyres but stressing them due to the higher speeds involved.
“The fact that there is no longer DRS does not make life easier for us, because it is a sort of DRS multiplied by two. It has doubled,” said Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport Director. “One at the front and one at the rear. So it is even more complicated. It is true that DRS applied a higher load at the front when it was open, and therefore the integrity of the front tyre was very important. For that reason, we worked on it in a specific way. Now, however, the issue concerns both the front and the rear.”
“But there is an additional effect: on the straights the cars are faster. So you have less vertical load, but higher speed. This has an impact on the centrifugal forces acting on the tyre.”
Up until the end of 2025, Pirelli had to try to reproduce the various loads expected for the 2026 tyres through the use of mule cars, meaning modified single-seaters designed to recreate some of the effects that will be seen next season. This approach, however, still led to limitations in certain situations. This is why Pirelli will carry out tests at the start of the season with the 2026 cars. The objective is to understand which minimum pressures are most consistent with the loads the tyres will have to withstand, as well as the appropriate camber values.
“When you are in the corner with the low-load system deactivated, you still have a lot of load, a lot of downforce. So it will be really important for us now that the construction is homologated. We will start testing in 2026 with the final versions of the new cars to understand how the system works, in order to give them minimum pressures that are consistent. Because in our prescriptions we consider load, speed, camber and dynamic camber. Many elements to provide the minimum pressure,” Isola explained.
“To do this, we have to carry out very complex calculations. Because of the new system, we need reliable information in order to update the prescriptions with the real loads acting on the tyres,” Mario Isola concluded.
As Formula 1 transitions into this sophisticated era of active aerodynamics, the collaboration between the FIA, teams, and Pirelli remains the cornerstone of track safety and performance. The shift from a simple rear-wing flap to a comprehensive “Straight Line Mode” represents a monumental engineering hurdle that will redefine how races are won and lost. For fans and teams alike, the 2026 season promises to be a fascinating study in how the pinnacle of motorsport balances extreme top speeds with the mechanical limits of tire technology.
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