The switch to new low-profile tyres represents a technical revolution for the pinnacle of world motorsport, requiring an intense research and development programme that featured both indoor and outdoor testing. Compared to the previous-generation 13-inch covers, the move to 18 inches marks a clean-sheet design – Pirelli’s engineers re-thinking every tyre element: from the profile to the structure to the compounds.

2022 Formula 1 Car Launch. Photo: XPB Images
 

Pirelli?s 2022 Formula 1 Tyres 
 

‘We started the development process with the profile before moving onto the base construction and homing in on the five compounds that we will homologate for next year,’ highlights Mario Isola, Pirelli’s head of Formula 1 and car racing. ‘The results obtained have been arrived at with the input of the drivers currently competing in the championship, a vital aspect for us, albeit using mule cars.’
Pirelli 18-Inch tyre development. Photo: Pirelli
 

There were 28 days of track testing for the new 18-inch tyres throughout 2021, making a total of 36, including the test days carried out late 2019 and early 2020, before a delay to the programme caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A wet Pirelli tyre compound was the last to be tested ahead of the 2022 season. Photo: XPB Images
 

The development campaign for the new 18-inch tyres was a comprehensive operation from start to finish, involving more than 10,000 hou...