Pirelli’s Motorsport boss Paul Hembery has expressed his desire for an increase in testing in Formula 1 ahead of the technical changes for the 2017 season.
The Italian tyre manufacturer, who have supplied tyres to F1 teams since 2011, will know whether their spell as the sport’s sole tyre supplier will continue beyond 2016.
With wider cars, wings and tyres the main changes rubber-stamped for 2017, Hembery reckons the rules centred on the limitation of pre-season testing should be reconsidered to ensure Pirelli can gather more knowledge on tyre performance on the new generation of cars, especially with the amount of pre-season tests being reduced to two in 2016.
“If we stay in the sport it will really need to look at how it is going to go testing.” Hembery told AUTOSPORT
“With the changes currently foreseen for ’17, you will have a wider rear tyre, I guess a modification to the front tyre, and cars that will have a very different aero load.
“Because the changes are so vast you don’t want to end up in Barcelona in March [at the first test] finding out you’ve got major problems.
“So there needs to be a way found to do testing before that.”
Pirelli are tackling several challenges, including complaints of their hard compound being too conservative and preparing themselves for the introduction of teams having the free selection of tyres next season, and Hembery is eager for the company to “quickly” come up with answers.
“We are still having to develop some ideas where we can address the harder tyre which is in need of a modification,” he said. “It needs to be much closer to the medium.
“Also a product that can be used on the true street circuits – Monaco, Montreal, Singapore – where you need probably a much softer tyre than the current super-soft.
He added: “Another idea, which we believe will be ready for ’16, is where there will be a freer choice for teams, but without putting ourselves in any difficulties. That’s our hope, and we want that to maybe come out very quickly now.
“We are getting very close to a final decision. That seems feasible.”
