Pirelli Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Kimi Raikkonen topped the time sheets for Ferrari on the first day of Pirelli’s Abu Dhabi tire test, where all 10 Formula One teams are evaluating the prospective 2018 tire compounds. The Finn clocked an impressive 1:37.768 on Pirelli’s new hypersoft compound, just three tenths ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, and nearly a second ahead of World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton, who qualified and finished second behind team mate Valtteri Bottas on Sunday, hailed Pirelli’s hypersoft tires as the best tire Pirelli has made sinceRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pirelli have revealed the tire choices of the Formula One teams for the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix. Although every team has elected to go with one set of the medium tire, the hardest compound offered for the weekend, there are some subtle differences with the other combinations. Mercedes will go with four soft sets, one more than Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, but will have one less set of supersofts to their rivals. Williams and Renault have both gone with only two soft sets, the fewestRead More

Lewis Hamilton powered to a lights-to-flag victory at Silverstone to claim his fifth career British Grand Prix win and equal the record set by F1 legends Jim Clark and Alain Prost. In a remarkable finish to the race, both Kimi Raikkonen and championship leader Sebastian Vettel suffered punctures in the closing laps to allow Valtteri Bottas through to seal a Mercedes one-two. Raikkonen recovered on new tyres to claim the final podium spot. In the final laps Hamilton had held the lead from Raikkonen and Bottas, with Vettel in fourthRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor It was all thumbs up for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari today. The four time champ looked absolutely unassailable as he set the fastest time of testing so far and completed a day high 156 laps. His 1:19.024 on ultra softs bested the Mercedes duo on the same tires by three tenths of a second and Felipe Massa’s Williams by four tenths. So confident was Vettel that he visibly slowed on the final straight for most of his fast laps, an ominious sign for their challengers that theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Kimi Raikkonen topped today’s damp running from Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the fourth and final day of the first pre-season test. The Finn ran a 1:20.872 on a drying track to top his Red Bull nemesis Max Verstappen by nearly a second on the time sheets. Raikkonen also ran 93 laps on the day, behind only Grosjean who racked up 188 laps in the Haas powered Ferrari. Pirelli brought in trucks which dumped water on the circuit before the first session. Early on all the teamsRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The F1 powers at be have granted an extra pre-season test day for Pirelli to develop their wet weather compounds for 2017. This comes after the company put in a request to the teams and the FIA to further develop the full wet tires before the season begins in March. It is understood that one of the 2015 mule cars developed by Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari will be used at a two day test at a so far unspecified location, likely Paul Ricard. The testRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor There is a reason Toto Wolff is so happy Valtteri Bottas has finally signed for Mercedes. Consequently, there is a reason Claire Williams is so happy Felipe Massa is back with her team as Bottas’ replacement. Teams with experienced veterans are rejoicing ahead of the 2017 regulations because they know that experience will count more than ever before. It is not unusual for cars and teams to be pushed to their breaking point during the debut season of major rule changes, but 2017 is going toRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The tire compounds for the Bahrain and Russian Grand Prix, the third and fourth races of the 2017 Formula 1 season, have been announced by Pirelli. The third round will feature medium, soft and super-soft compound selections – the same as last season. For round four, the Italian manufacturer has decided to go with its traditional super-soft and soft rubber, but also added ultra-softs to Sochi circuit. 2017 will see a change in tires in F1, with a new era of regulations both bigger and widerRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Pirelli’s racing manager, Mario Isola has claims that the tires Pirelli will supply Formula One with in 2018, will be different from the 2017 compounds they are currently working on. Much is being made about the vast changes to the cars for 2017 that will see them lap up to five seconds quicker than in 2016, but none more so than about the much wider tires Pirelli will bring to the table. Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull were tasked with modifying 2015 cars to simulate theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The French Grand Prix is poised to make a surprise return to the Formula One calendar in 2018, after an absence of a decade. The race, last hosted by the rural Magny-Cours circuit in 2008, will come to the Paul Ricard circuit, where the French Grand Prix was previously held between 1971 and 1990. The track is owned by Bernie Ecclestone’s family trust, but the F1 supremo has insisted that they will rent the circuit to the event promoters for the Grand Prix in order toRead More