Pirelli has just concluded two days of testing with Alpine F1 at the French circuit of Magny-Cours.
Prototype 2026 wet tires were set to make their track debut on Wednesday, with the tires fitted with the same 18-inch rims as the current generation, but with a slightly smaller width and outer diameter, both front and rear. .
The test is taking place in collaboration with Alpine F1 who have brought a modified version of last year's A523, adapted to accept the new rim size. Driving has been entrusted to Australian Jack Doohan, reserve driver for the French team this year, who will be promoted to the position of racing driver from next season.
Unfortunately, a technical problem with the car reduced the time spent on track on the first day: Doohan completed a total of 47 laps, the best in 1'16”461, achieved on slick tires. Dry weather tires were used initially, before moving on to intermediate and extreme rain testing on the artificially watered track.
Testing continued yesterday, Thursday, still with Doohan at the wheel.
And it was a day finally full of kilometers in France. The Australian completed 106 laps, all on an artificially watered track, the fastest in 1'27”352. The work carried out thus partially made up for the time lost on Wednesday. The program mainly focused on the evaluation of extreme rain tire prototypes, with some intermediate runs.
This was the third and final test session, all lasting two days, that Pirelli has carried out this year, with a view to the 2026 season. Before this, there had been sessions on the Barcelona and Mugello circuits, with tires for dry weather.
These tests will resume in 2025, while on Tuesday December 10, at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, a test will be organized for all teams to evaluate for the first time the final version of the dry weather tires for the season 2025.
