08/06/2016
NEWS STORY
Pirelli chairman believes the new tyres for 2017 will give the sport a boost.
Unveiled to the media in Monaco, the tyres for the revised formula in 2017 are significantly wider than their current counterparts and, coupled with an increase in weight, not to mention the other new regulations, should lead to increased lap speeds.
"They look powerful," says Pirelli chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, according to Motorsport.com. "They give the sense of power.
"The first test made in the wind tunnel they are proving that the outcome can be amazing," he added, though the tyres have yet to be tried on track.
"It's a major change," he admitted. "Technologically speaking it's very attractive for us. People are very much involved and willing to deliver the best possible performance and I think these tyres can provide an amazing result, because to improve some tenths of a second you have to do a lot of things on the car and the engine."
In anticipation of the changes, tests with tyres in the current size, but with prototype constructions and compounds and using 2012, 2013 and 2014 cars, began last month, while the first test using 2017 size tyres is scheduled for August.