Inside Ferrari’s latest Pirelli test: Moving DRS device and a key date agreed
Charles Leclerc ran a downforce-reducing front wing device on his Ferrari mule car at a recent Pirelli tyre test.
Ferrari ran a movable front wing DRS device during a recent Pirelli tyre test in Budapest, helping the tyre manufacturer gain further insight into the effects of next year’s downforce reduction.
Next year sees Formula 1 introduce very different aerodynamic regulations, with movable front and rear wings to optimise the car for both cornering and straight-line speed.
Ferrari carries out F1 2026 mule car test with movable aero
At a recent tyre test carried out by Pirelli at the Hungaroring, Ferrari and Alpine supplied a driver and a mule car – an F1 2025 chassis adapted to fit the new, narrower construction tyres being introduced – to carry out the tyre manufacturer’s test programme.
A technical directive, introduced in June, permitted the use of movable front wing aero devices for such tests, essentially, a prototype version of the movable aero en route for next season.
Such a device was not used by either Aston Martin or Sauber during the Silverstone tests in July. Neither did McLaren, Racing Bulls, or Alpine on the first day of the Hungary test in August, but Ferrari deployed such a device for the second day.
The intention of the device is to simulate the lower downforce levels expected to be generated by the 2026 front wings, which will have an effect on cornering speeds and braking points, offering Pirelli the chance to evaluate its new compounds against these requirements.
“It was good to confirm, especially that the tests that we run with cars without this device are still relevant,” Pirelli boss Mario Isola explained, when asked by PlanetF1.com over the Dutch Grand Prix weekend how beneficial the data from the test has been on the programme for next season.
“So we found differences, but we have been able to compare the test with the other tests and understand what is the impact. That means that we can make all the aero tests relevant.
“[Is] the device working [as well] as the new [cars]? No, because most of the downforce of these [current] cars is coming from the floor, not the wings.
“So probably the device will be more powerful next year, with a load reduction and drag reduction that is more than what we measure with a mule car, but still good to have this possibility to check what is the effect.”
At previous tests, starting with Aston Martin in late 2024, the drivers carrying out these Pirelli tyre tests have driven with constantly open DRS to simulate the lower rear wing downforce levels for 2026, using car setups to attempt to balance the front.
Ferrari’s front-wing device thus went a step further than mere setup alterations, providing Pirelli with a clearer picture.
Dutch Grand Prix analysis from PlanetF1.com:
👉 Dutch GP driver ratings: Hamilton clanger, Hadjar’s heroics, Piastri domination
Pirelli reach F1 2026 tyre homologation date
This week marks not only Pirelli’s 500th F1 Grand Prix (Zandvoort being the 500th entry but with the milestone being celebrated at its home event at Monza), but also the homologation date for the F1 2026 compounds.
As of September 1st, Pirelli has had to lock in the compounds which will form the range of C1 to C6 tyres available for the racing season next year.
Given the tweaks in size of the tyre, and the reduction of the contact patch with the tarmac, Isola explained that it’s not merely a continuation of the current range, despite sticking with 18-inch tyres.
“The size is not so different, still an 18-inch, [but] we have a lower diameter and a different width,” he said.
“That means that we had to re-design the profile completely, not just the construction and the compounds.
“The profile is defining the footprint and how the footprint operates, and that’s really important for us, because the footprint define the level of wear, the level of degradation.
“If you have the risk of having blistering, for example, because if you have a small area where you are pushing a lot, then that area is more prone to blistering.
“So there are many elements that we should consider, and the change is quite big.
“On top of that, we still have some question marks of the performance of the cars next year. That’s why we are still working hard with the teams and the FIA to understand what is the prediction to define the compounds.
“We don’t have many tests available. We have Monza, Mugello, and Mexico, and it’s finished. For that reason, we want to understand the performance in order to have a range of compounds that is centred compared to the performance of the cars.
“We are trying to extend, a little bit, the delta laptimes between compounds, and we want to homologate six compounds, because with this flexibility, we can move a bit more on the soft side or the harder side, depending on the real performance of the cars.
“We will discover that only next year at the preseason test, and probably not even the real performance at the preseason test, because we know that the teams are hiding the real performance.”
A key point to consider for Pirelli is that, while initial downforce levels of the new F1 2026 will be reduced compared to this year, therefore vastly reducing the demands on the tyre’s construction and compounds, the teams can and will add downforce relentlessly.
Isola explained the process of creating the new tyres with this in mind.
“Looking at development of the construction, we started with a baseline at the beginning of the development last year, and then obviously, depending on what we have seen with the mule car testing, together with the simulations – because don’t forget that when we have these big [regulation] differences for the following year – we usually work on two parallel directions,” he said.
“One is the real tyre, the physical prototype, testing on mule cars, and the other one is the virtual model of the tyre and the virtual model of the car that we use in our simulations.
“But what is interesting is that we supply the vehicle model of the tyre to the teams. They use it with their simulators, and they come back to us with feedback.
“So first of all, we have to assess the level of integrity required. There was a lot of discussion about the load for next year’s cars.
“In general, the load seems to be lower during this year, but we have to consider the end of next season, not the beginning.
“In the beginning would not be correct, because then we freeze the tyre for one year. We cannot change the construction mid-season unless there is a clear, let’s say, mistake from the simulation we received, and we realise that the product we have developed is not in line with the real performance of the cars – in that case, we can ask for a change in construction, but we always try to avoid that.
“It happened a couple of years ago, because the simulations were clearly underestimated.
“We assess the level of integrity, then the balance and then the drivability of the tyre using compounds that are the current compounds, or compounds that we know.
“So at least we have only one variable, that is the construction. We started with the baseline, then we adjusted the performance of the tyres.
“I remember at the beginning of the development, the teams required a higher current stiffness from the rear tyres. The front was good, the rear was a little bit weak.
“So they, in general, requested making a stronger rear, which we did, and we always work with with the teams in order to design a tyre that is the best compromise for all the cars with the information that we have – it’s not a lot, but at least it’s better for us.”
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