For the 2021 season, Formula 1 converts from 13- to 18-inch wheels. Formula 1 thus approaches road development, where flat-flank tires are standard. The preparations are ongoing, as three teams will build a “mule car” to begin testing the new Pirelli low-profile tires later this year.
Pirelli would like to try the first prototypes for a three-day testing session in the second part of the year. Currently they are you are looking for suitable venues, which is not so easy, because many are already booked: “If everything goes according to plan, the first tests with the new tires will take place in mid-September,” Pirelli’s Head of Car Racing Mario Isola explained.
Three teams have already agreed to build a “mule car” for the test drives, which comes on the calculated output values of the 2021 cars. “It’s important for us to get representative data,” says Isola. The so-called “mule cars” for the tests will be based on the 2018 cars. According to AMuS, the three teams are Scuderia Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault. So three factory teams. Red Bull had to pass, because they drove in 2018 with Renault engines. The smaller teams choose not to get involved for financial reasons, although Isola says, “They too could build a mule-car.”
“The first tests are all about basic research. We can not afford to put some of our resources on a test carrier” – says a team manager of a midfield team. He refers not only to the finances, but also to the staff and it is better to work on the cars that race now, not in the future. No distraction, no additional test stress. In any case, the data gathered from the test drives will be distributed among all teams. That’s how it was before the 2017 season, when Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull had equipped older cars with aprons and larger wings to test Pirelli’s impact of more downforce on the tires.
Nevertheless, testing the 18-inch wheels with its regular drivers can be an advantage for Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. Because their drivers can feed the engineers with impressions. Because the low-profile tires cushions less than the current wheels, the teams must above all adjust the spring / damper elements and slightly increase the ground clearance.
In 2020, Pirelli hopes that more teams will accept the offer and build a mule-car. “We expect seven teams. The Mule Car can then be based on the 2019 cars. “A team manager is sure. “Then everyone will drive with the 18-inch wheels, because you will not only scratch the surface.”
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