Pirelli’s 2027 wet tire strategy: what will happen to full wets in Formula 1?. Discover Pirelli’s plans for full wet tires in Formula 1.

Mario Isola, the director of Pirelli Motorsport, has recently revealed on the Sky Sport program “Race Anatomy” a potential turning point for the future of full wet tires in Formula 1, considering their very limited use in recent seasons.

The words of Mario Isola
When asked directly, “What will happen to the full wet tires?” Mario Isola responded in detail: “Full wet tires are designed specifically for conditions that today the race direction monitors very closely, because we know that visibility is a crucial factor. We already saw this at Silverstone with intermediate tires, it was also evident at Spa-Francorchamps, and naturally, no one wants to take unnecessary risks in these extreme weather conditions.

“What will we do next? For the upcoming 2026 season, we will continue with full wet and intermediate tires, as this was already decided. However, we need to understand with the new generation of Formula 1 cars how much spray – that is, water thrown into the air by the cars themselves – there will be.

“For 2027, we could even consider – and this is currently under discussion with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Formula 1, and the teams – moving to a single tire design, if this proves to be the best solution.

“Therefore, as in many other racing categories that do not use separate intermediate tires, there could be just one ‘hybrid’ tire design suitable for all wet conditions,” Mario Isola concluded.

In other words, the future of the often-overlooked extreme wet tires will largely depend on the next generation of Formula 1 cars, which are theoretically expected to improve driver visibility even in the most challenging weather conditions.

For fans and teams alike, this means that seeing Formula 1 cars racing on full wet tires in 2025 might become an exceptionally rare event, emphasizing just how much Formula 1 technology and tire strategy have evolved over the years. While we wait to see the final decisions, it is already clear that the role of full wet tires is being reconsidered for the long-term future of the sport.