Formula 1’s new narrower 2026 tyre specifications have run for the first time on an Aston Martin mule car.
Ahead of the major rules revamp that is coming in two years' time, Pirelli is introducing slightly smaller tyres as part of an effort to reduce overall car weight.
While the tyres remain with the current 18-inch rim size that has been used for the latest ground-effect era, the size of both the front and rear tyres will be reduced.
Pirelli has agreed to reduce the front tyre width by 25mm and the rear tyre width by 30mm.
The tyres themselves will also become smaller in diameter, going from the current 720mm diameter to 705-710mm.
While F1’s final technical regulations for 2026 are yet to be finalised, which means that the definitive aero load has not been set just yet, Pirelli did not want to wait too long before running the tyres on track.
That is why it has agreed with the FIA for a mule car test programme to be run with modified 2023 cars.
With all teams obviously eager to get any early knowledge of the 2026 tyre designs, there was a great deal of interest in squads committing to running a mule car for these early runs.
However, Aston Martin came out of top, with team principal Mike Krack revealing that the decision for the team to be part of the first test had been decided in a lottery.
“There was a selection process – or a lottery process – because there was a number of teams who wanted to be part of this test programme. We were drawn first, so we are the first to do this,” he said.
It is understood that McLaren and Alpine will also be taking part in the first batch of mule car tests, with all other squads having a run later on in the development programme.
Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich was first to try out the 2026 tyre designs, running the modified Aston Martin at Barcelona this week for two days, having completed 670km of running on Tuesday.
The FIA had to introduce a change to the rules to allow the use of mule cars for the 2026 regulations, with Pirelli admitting it was a quite a delicate situation in ensuring nobody gained a competitive advantage.
“Obviously, on one side, they [the FIA] don't want to give an advantage to anyone,” said Pirelli’s head of car racing Mario Isola. “That is understandable.
“On the other side, we need to have cars that are as much as possible representative of the 2026 situation. We will choose, together with the teams, a downforce level that is representative.
“But this is the very first test. We are going to test the baseline to understand if the balance is correct. Obviously, we have simulations, and we have indoor testing, and we already released indoor data to all the teams, as usual, and we are going to distribute the report after the test with the teams too.”
