After Pirelli designed new 23-inch tyres for the initial switch to ground-effects last season, subsequent aerodynamic development from teams has led to complaints about how easily the tyres now overheat from the altered airflow.
While F1 has desired multiple pitstops to create divergent strategies, and this means that the tyre must markedly degrade, drivers have increasingly spoken out against the high wear that prevents them from pushing throughout a stint.
As such, F1 tyre manufacturer Pirelli - which has signed a contract extension to continue the exclusive supply deal until 2027, with an option for a further year - is to begin research into a new tyre concept.
Pirelli motorsport boss Mario Isola told select media, including Autosport: “Without high degradation, there is no reason to target a two-stop race.
“But also, I believe that most of the action on track is due to tyre degradation and how you are able to manage tyre degradation.
“If you reduce that, I am convinced that the risk is to have a train of cars because obviously, if you can push, I can push, everybody can push. It is not a different tyre for each driver.
“So, I understand drivers who are complaining about high tyre degradation because they would like to push more, and this is a clear indication.”
As a result of the ongoing complaints, Isola confirmed Pirelli will start a specific analysis on the issue in the “next weeks”.
He continued: “What we want to understand is how we modify the action on track and reducing the degradation. This is something we can do.
“We have to design a tyre with a different level of degradation and we can for the future consider that option. But it's important to understand if there is any unintended consequence to this.”
Autosport understands that Pirelli will work with F1 and the teams to conduct its investigation since its own simulator tools to predict strategies does not account for the effects of running in traffic.
Since the construction and range of tyre compounds for 2024 have already been defined and locked in, any changes would not make their grand prix debut until 2025.
Isola continued: “It is important that, for the future, we have these kind of targets clarified in advance.
“We need to understand what is good for the sport, taking into consideration the advice, the comments from the drivers but for the benefit of the sport.”
