Pirelli encouraged by blanket-free F1 tyre test, drivers’ views mixed

Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri all took part in the test with the latest constructions as Pirelli continues to push towards the change, with a final decision on 2024 to be made following a crucial test at Silverstone in July.

Lewis Hamilton branded the tyres “dangerous” after running at a cold Paul Ricard in February, but in Sakhir they showed more promise.

The warm conditions and high-severity nature of the track surface were clearly a benefit.

However Pirelli acknowledged that if the latest tyres hadn’t worked well in Bahrain the company would now be facing an even tougher struggle to find the right solution.

“The point is that if in Bahrain we discovered that it was impossible, or the warm-up was too long, or we had a big issue, then I can imagine that the challenge was going to be much bigger than expected,” said Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola when asked about the test by Autosport.

“It is encouraging. Bahrain is not the most representative track for the warm-up, because we know that the warm-up is not an issue with the blankets.”

The drivers who tried the latest tyres in Sakhir had mixed views. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was upbeat, while also conceding that the track was favourable for the new tyres.

“I will be a little bit cautious with that,” he said when asked by Autosport.

“I think it went well, it was honestly a positive test. But Bahrain is a very specific track with very high temperatures so it’s not like warm-up is a very is a big concern.

“Everything went really well but let’s be cautious, because it’s in conditions that should help this test.”

Alfa’s Valtteri Bottas agreed that the tyres performed satisfactorily in Bahrain, but questioned the wisdom of a move away from blankets.

“There’s still work to do,” said the Finn. “I think Pirelli knows it as well and F1 knows it as well.

“It’s quite a new concept for F1 cars, with the amount of load we have in the cars, and having such a tyre that works from low temperature to high is not easy to make.

“Obviously, warm-up is a bit of an issue when you don’t have blankets. But Bahrain is probably the easiest track to get the tyres to warm-up so it was actually manageable.

“But at this point, which is from the beginning pretty obvious, the pressure rise is then massive when you start cold and when you end up 100°C, so that obviously makes the tyre drop-off significantly…