Pirelli seeing similarities in 2017 car designs

©Pirelli Motorsport

Pirelli is seeing some similarities in the 2017 cars as teams share data with the tyre manufacturer ahead of the introduction of new regulations.

With wider tyres being introduced to increase performance next season, Pirelli has already started testing the 2017 tyres with modified 2015 cars. New aerodynamic regulations mean it is unclear just what level of performance teams will be able to reach next season, leading to a data share to allow Pirelli to develop their tyres accordingly.

Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery says the process is working well and has already started to show where teams are converging.

“I’d say it’s in line with what we’re expecting," Hembery told F1i when asked how performance levels are looking. "Obviously for the teams themselves they are in a very early stage I would think in most cases to figuring out where they are going to be. Whatever we see now we’ll get confirmed in Barcelona but I think there’s certainly some trends and similarities emerging amongst the teams.”

While Pirelli attempted some performance running during the slick tyre test with Red Bull at Mugello, Hembery says it is far from representative at this stage.

“We’ll know when we get to Barcelona or wherever we’re going early in the season next year. That’s the true test when you have the full package and the engine is going to be not for testing. Clearly they need kilometres out of the engine so the real test will be when we get out in February next year.

"But the simulation data which can be pretty close and pretty accurate suggests that we are going to achieve the pace improvement that has been requested from the aero and the tyre package."

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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.