Part of Pirelli’s new contract as the sole tyre supplier of Formula One was to have a tyre test after the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. On Wednesday, Pirelli finalized the details of the test after an agreement was reached with the FIA World Council.
The tyre test will be held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on December 1. The season will have ended by this point on the Sunday prior. The test will consist of a single, 12 hour day of testing activities that will be selected by Pirelli. Test programmes will be assigned to each team.
All teams are given the opportunity to participate with one car, but participation is voluntary. The Manor F1 Team has already confirmed that they will not be taking part in the test, having opted out of all previous tests in the season. Teams have been requested to run either a race or reserve driver, in an attempt to prevent teams from renting out seats to wealthy Formula One hopefuls.
The purpose of the test is to develop the line of P Zero slick tyres for the 2016 season. This will also include the new Ultrasoft tyre compound coming to the grid in 2016. The tyre will make its debut in the test in purple, which was voted for over silver by 85% of voters on the Pirelli social media pages. Since this test is purely for tyre development, teams will not be permitted to test, develop or fit any experimental components to the car. This test will not affect the teams’ allocation of testing tyres that is enforced by the regulations.
The Italian tyre manufacturer has been the sole supplier of Formula One since the 2011 season and has done an excellent job to provide top of the line tyres with limited testing. Pirelli renewed a contract to remain the sole tyre supplier of Formula One until the 2020 season in October of this year. This new tyre test will give Pirelli the information and statistical data that they need in order to continue providing and developing the best tyres for one of the fastest motorsports on the planet.
