The sometimes chequered partnership between Formula 1 and Pirelli will continue for another three years after a new agreement was reached between both parties. The new contract starts with this year meaning Pirelli will remain the sole tyre supplier until at least the end of the 2016 F1 season.
In a bid to overcome the testing dramas we witnessed in 2013 new sporting regulations have been introduced which mandate tyre testing must be undertaken by all teams.
Specifically, the agreement states that one day of official pre-season testing will be dedicated to running Pirelli’s wet weather tyres (cue Bernie’s sprinklers).
There will be eight days of in-season testing in 2014—four blocks of two day tests—and each team will be required to dedicate one of those days to tyre testing with Pirelli. There are 11 teams in F1 and no more than two teams can conduct their in-season tyre testing on the same day.
[Pic: Pirelli]
Pirelli: Supplying Formula One for the next three years
Milano, January 16, 2014 – Following a decision by the World Motor Sport Council confirming Pirelli’s status as the single supplier of tyres to the FIA Formula One World Championship, Pirelli and the FIA have renewed their Formula One tyre supply contract. The duration of the agreement is for three years, starting from the 2014 season.
The world motorsport’s governing body and Pirelli, in collaboration with the teams, have been working together to improve levels of safety and performance in Formula One, resulting in important changes to the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations regarding the testing of tyres, which will enable the Italian company to continue its Formula One single supply arrangements in the best interests of the sport.
These new rules, mandatory from the 2014 season onwards, can be summarised as follows:
1) One of the 12 days of official pre-season testing, as prescribed in the 2014 sporting regulations, will be dedicated exclusively to wet tyre testing.
2) Each team will dedicate one of their eight days of in-season testing, as prescribed in the 2014 sporting regulations, exclusively to tyre testing. This means that during each of the eight days of in-season testing, at least one team – and up to a maximum of two – will be concentrating on tyre testing along with Pirelli’s engineers.
Pirelli will continue to determine the specification of the tyres and to manage all aspects of their development, in close consultation with the FIA and the teams, and within the parameters set out in the FIA Formula One Sporting & Technical Regulations.
In addition, Pirelli and the FIA have agreed to discuss a possible partnership on the FIA Action for Road Safety campaign.