Key F1 2026 milestone reached in maiden Barcelona test with Aston Martin

Pirelli have marked an important milestone at the Circuit de Catalunya where their first prototypes of the F1 2026 tyres were put through their paces by Aston Martin.

Formula 1’s technical and engine regulations have been completely overhauled for the 2026 season, the sport introducing smaller, lighter cars and engines with a 50/50 split between internal combustion and electrical power.

Key milestone for F1 2026 using a modified AMR23

Pirelli have also been asked to make changes, reducing the front tyre width by 25mm and the rear tyre width by 30mm. The tyres will also be smaller in diameter, dropping from the current 720mm diameter to 705-710mm.

That’s expected to save four to five kilograms of the FIA’s overall 30kg weight-saving target.

Testing the tyres though, is not a simple task as Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola explained in July.

“Testing our narrow tyres on these cars is giving us the possibility to collect data,” he said. “but then we need to crosscheck the data with the simulations to understand if we are going in the right direction. We cannot rely just on the track testing.

“We had a similar situation in 2016, because the 2017 the cars were five or six seconds per lap quicker than previous year.

“We are going to test with a downforce configuration that we believe is simulating what is going to happen in 2026. The real problem is that you have a lot more drag. We don’t have a 2026 car, so we don’t have a car able to do this X mode and Z mode.”

As such, Pirelli are having to rely on the teams modifying their cars to help with the on-track testing.

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Having completed the first stages of design, simulation and test bed work, the tests have now moved to the track with Italian tyre manufacturer highlighting the importance of reproducing as “closely as possible the conditions which will be found in 2026”.

Therefore the F1 teams are taking part in the tests, running modified cars with Aston Martin the first to hit the track.

The team put a modified AMR23 on the track at the Circuit de Catalunya with reserve driver Felipe Drugovich behind the wheel.

In an important milestone for Pirelli, they got to see their 2026 prototype tyres in action and collect vital data, with Drugovich covering 670 kilometres on Day One of the two-day test.

The Brazilian will again be behind the wheel of the modified AMR23 on Wednesday.

While the track testing is vital, Isola confirmed Pirelli will continue to test the prototype tyres back in Milan as F1 predicts the 2026 cars will reach a higher top speed than today’s editions.

“In terms of speed, we know that in 2026 the top speeds on the straights are expected to be higher than the current ones. What we can do from an integrity standpoint is to test our tires, which we regularly do, at higher speeds than we anticipate,” he said.

“We have indoor test machines in Milan that reach 450 km/h, so we should be covered. Therefore, we can certainly push further with defining the conditions for integrity.

“In terms of performance, degradation, and compound functioning, not having fully representative cars of what will happen is a limitation, but we know how to work with that.”

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