F1 Teams confirmed for Pirelli wet tyre testing
Published On 03-Jun-2016
The 2016 Formula 1 testing of Pirelli wet tyres is scheduled to take place on January 25-26. The latest update is that only three teams, namely, McLaren, Redbull and Ferrari will take part in this testing at the Paul Richard Circuit.
On the test day, circuit's sprinkler system will come in handy to simulate the wet weather conditions. Pirelli says that during this day only wet tyres will be tested and there will no running of the intermediates or slick tyres.
To make sure that the three teams taking part in the testing gain no advantage over the absent rivals, the FIA will be monitoring the testing closely.
Pirelli sent a note to the Formula 1 teams saying, “ The run plans would be entirely defined by Pirelli and agreed with FIA," and that "FIA observers [will be] present in garage. This is in order to monitor that only the tests dictated by Pirelli are performed. FIA observers will also have driver radio and full access to the team."
The tyre maker also added that the cars will have to fit the 2015 specification and that “no test parts allowed, no car/set-up testing is possible."
These standards for testing will prevent the teams from trying out the upgraded engine package. Pirelli said, "The reports would be sent to all the teams, not just the team that is testing. This will also include lap times and sector times, and that no telemetry channels will be shared between teams but some information coming from the analysis of the telemetry (comparisons of prototype vs base) will be included in the Pirelli report."
Conforming to the standard tyre testing procedure, it will be a blind test for the teams without getting the details on the prototype that they test. Only necessary information will be provided to the engineer.
Pirelli said, "The objective of this test is to develop a new XWET product with an increased grip in drying conditions and without losing aquaplaning properties or performance in full wet. We will try to enlarge the 'performance window' of the XWETS and to improve the handling, reducing the snap oversteer."