Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsPirelli

Pirelli allowed up to six tests in 2016

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Pirelli will be allowed up to 12 days of testing next year in preparation for planned regulation changes in 2017.

The tyre manufacturer made clear during recent discussions regarding its future in the sport that it needed more testing time with current cars to help develop tyres. Eventually Pirelli was granted a 12-hour day of testing in Abu Dhabi after the final race of the season in preparation for 2016, while it will also test in wet conditions at Paul Ricard for two days in January.

However, motorsport boss Paul Hembery stated the need for extensive testing in 2016 as a result of plans to increase lap times by up to five seconds through new regulations in 2017. The FIA has now approved such a move, giving Pirelli up to 12 days during which to test.

The 2016 Formula One Sporting Regulations now state:

"In consultation with the teams and the appointed tyre supplier, the FIA reserves the right to organise up to six two day tests for the sole purpose of providing the Supplier with the chance to test improvements to the design of their tyres."

New tyre regulations were also approved earlier this month, with Pirelli providing teams with a choice of three compounds for each race.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.