The Formula 1’s 2nd off-season isn’t just about driver transfers or upgrades but also about the brand-new Pirelli 2026 tyres. The changes in the tyres, paired with the upcoming 2026 regulations, have pushed Pirelli to develop entirely new compounds. Teams like Aston Martin, McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari are wasting no time testing these tyres during the break between races.
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Pirelli’s 2026 Tyres: What’s New?
For the 2026 season, the tyres remain 18 inches in rim diameter, but there are key differences. The width and external diameter are smaller on both the front and rear axles. But the challenge isn’t just about size! 2026 cars are expected to have lower aerodynamic loads.
So, how is Pirelli preparing? By testing on mule cars. These are modified cars designed to mimic the 2026 specs as closely as possible. Felipe Drugovich of Aston Martin got to test the new rubber at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. To compensate for the differences in regulations, Drugovich had his DRS open throughout the test to simulate the lower downforce expected for future F1 cars. He clocked over 1300 kilometres across two days of testing.
“We decided to run always with the DRS open in order to compensate the front and rear load.”
Pirelli’s boss, Mario Isola explained
Testing Tyres in All Conditions
Meanwhile, McLaren got their hands on the Pirelli 2026 tyres at Mugello, with Lando Norris behind the wheel. The test saw mixed weather conditions, which made the data even more valuable. Though heavy rain delayed Tuesday’s running, conditions improved on Wednesday.
“The demanding nature of the high-speed Mugello layout made that running especially useful,”
Pirelli reported
Highlighting just how important these varied conditions are for tyre testing.
McLaren’s mule car provided valuable data, with Norris racking up 118 laps, the most of any driver in the session. Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were also busy testing, but only Norris ran the 2026 tyres, with others focused on 2025 development. Leclerc clocked the fastest time of the day at 1:21.053, while Norris’ best was 1:21.302.
The Road to 2026
This testing programme is essential as Pirelli fine-tunes its new tyres, getting real-world feedback to complement simulations.
“Our main job was to try to correlate simulations with the mule car”
According to Isola
Adding that, although mule cars can’t fully replicate the 2026 machines, this testing phase is critical to gathering a baseline for further development.
Looking ahead, testing will continue to ramp up throughout 2025, with all F1 teams expected to join in once they have the right mule cars to test with.
Next up?
Alpine, who will take to Magny-Cours in November to contribute to the development of these smaller, lower-load Pirelli 2026 tyres.
In short, testing the 2026 tyres is a crucial step towards ensuring next-gen F1 cars perform as expected. With tweaks to both tyre size and car aerodynamics, the data gathered over this break will shape the future of the sport.
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Featured Image courtesy of Pirelli via AMuS.