Formula 1 drivers tested the harder end of Formula 1’s 2023 tyre range during Free Practice 2 at the United States Grand Prix.
The second session in Circuit of The Americas was dedicated to testing next year’s rubber as a compromise solution for Pirelli given the limited opportunities available in the crammed 2022 season calendar.
That saw teams issued with two sets of unmarked tyres, and a prescribed session plan that included both short and long runs.
“It was a good test. All the cars, more or less all the cars completed the plan,” explained Pirelli’s Head of Motorsport, Mario Isola.
“We were focused on the hardest compounds of the range.
“We have lots of data. We didn’t know what to expect because when you have traffic you can have red flags or the track is not in good condition.
“Yesterday was, I don’t want to say ideal, but it was a good opportunity.”
“They were testing blind the specification,” Isola added.
“Basically, they didn’t know what they were testing. They had a baseline tyre versus a prototype.
“I believe drivers were complaining a little bit about the warm-up phase because we were already testing with 50 degrees of blanket temperature, that means 20 degrees less compared to this year.
“Obviously, in this case, the difference in warm-up is something they can feel, clearly. But for the rest, I had positive feedback.
“The target is to reduce the understeer that they have in low-speed corners and for the rest, we have to fine-tune some of the compounds in order to have them better space across different levels.”
A similar test is now planned for the Mexico City Grand Prix, where the softer end of the range will be used, after the weather in Japan prevented teams from working for Pirelli in Suzuka two weeks ago.
“With this last test, we are in a position to define the five compounds we want to homologate for next year,” Isola explained.
“The plan is to supply the 2023 tires in their final version in Abu Dhabi at the post-season test, both for the cars that are testing our tyres with the race drivers and also to the cars that are using young drivers.”
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