The Latest Breaking News from Pirelli

The start of the Saturday sprint event at Spa was delayed by rain, and when it eventually got underway the cars ran on full wet tyres behind the safety car – as mandated by the rules – before the field was released.

It was the Belgian’s first running in an F1 car since he tested for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2021.

If a race is declared wet and is started behind the safety car, drivers are obliged to run Pirelli's blue-walled extreme wet tyres.

Leclerc, one of F1’s star qualifiers, has had several disappointing results against the clock in 2023, as he has struggled to keep to the minimalistic approach required in mixed conditions to reduce mistakes and keep the sensitive Pirelli tyres in the correct state with his aggressive driving style. 

Team bosses and F1 chiefs are due to discuss the tyre blanket issue at a meeting of the F1 Commission at the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday.

Pirelli and Falken have new ultra-high-performance all-season tires on the market. Can they handle a 717-hp Hellcat?

Formula 1 has always relied on junior categories to feed it with the next generation of drivers, and its teams are eager to snap up the brightest talents within them.

The Belgian GP will run to the sprint format, which means teams will only get one practice session before qualifying. With rain expected to hit the track on Friday, teams may get little-to-no dry running before the set-up of their cars is frozen under parc ferme rules.

Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli is currently the official tyre supplier to all categories within the WRC after winning the FIA’s last WRC tyre tender in 2019 to supply tyres from 2021 to 2024. This included the last season of the WRC generation car and the first three campaigns under Rally1…