Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli is to evaluate a new rear construction of its tyres during practice for next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The supplier recently introduced a new technical directive in the wake of Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll suffering failures at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Pirelli attributed those failures to a circumferential cut on the inside shoulder of the rear-left tyre and hinted that lower-than-expected running pressures had been encountered.
Each team had been in accordance with minimum starting pressures and maximum blanket temperatures when checked pre-race.
A new real-time standard tyre pressure monitoring system is set to be introduced from 2022, when Formula 1 will switch to 18-inch tyres, as part of changes that had already been determined prior to the Baku incidents.
Pirelli announced that a new rear construction will be assessed during practice next Friday “to evaluate its effectiveness to further improve robustness of the tyres.”
Each driver will have two sets of these new tyres available for use during either of the free practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring.
If they are deemed suitable then the new rear specification will be introduced from the following grand prix at Silverstone.
Pirelli outlined that “the new rear construction incorporates some elements that have been developed for use in the latest 18-inch tyres from 2022.”
The company concluded that “with this new structure Pirelli provides a tyre that can guarantee even greater levels of integrity under the extreme conditions that can be generated by the current cars.”
