Lewis Hamilton returns to drive a Ferrari, and for the primary time, he does so aboard the SF-24. In contrast to the latest TPC checks, which concerned the usage of vehicles not less than two years outdated, the continuing checks in Barcelona are a part of Pirelli’s improvement program for the 2026 tires, with McLaren additionally collaborating. The vehicles on monitor are 2024 fashions, however in a particular configuration designed to copy, as a lot as attainable, the traits of subsequent yr’s vehicles.
The 2026 updates
The goals of the check require vital modifications to the vehicles, limiting references to the earlier season, and, in Lewis Hamilton’s case, the familiarization with the newest Ferrari. Probably the most vital distinction issues the tires, which have been revised in development and compound, being very completely different from the present ones. For 2026, Pirelli has chosen to proceed with the 18-inch diameter wheels, narrowing the entrance tires by 25 mm and the rear ones by 30 mm. Regardless of this discount, nevertheless, the vehicles in Barcelona don’t function any modifications to the braking system.
The 2026 tires are designed to work below completely different masses than the present ones. Particularly, the next-generation vehicles will use energetic wings at each the entrance and rear, considerably lowering aerodynamic load in straights. Nevertheless, Pirelli’s focus is on the stresses skilled in corners when the vehicles shut the wings, transitioning to a configuration with larger aerodynamic load. “We’ve targeted our evaluation on the high-load mode, which presently exhibits values about 15% decrease than the present ones,” defined Mario Isola. Therefore, the necessity to conduct the event checks on the 2024 vehicles in a particular low-downforce setup.
Increased and lighter vehicles
The distinction in aerodynamic load between the intermediate configuration and the low-downforce one sometimes utilized in Monza is about 10%. In Barcelona, Ferrari and McLaren are working with an much more aggressive setup, lowering the wing profiles as a lot as attainable, however not solely that. By elevating the trip peak by just some millimeters, they lose some load, approaching the anticipated values for 2026.
Elevating the present vehicles can also be practical to a different purpose of the Pirelli checks. The upcoming laws may encourage groups to make use of floor impact much less aggressively, elevating the ground to work farther from the bottom. “There are completely different opinions about it; work is being executed in sure instructions, but it surely’s nonetheless not utterly clear,” stated Haas Technical Director Andrea de Zordo in a latest interview for the Italian media. “They in all probability gained’t be as little as they’re now, however maybe not as excessive as they as soon as have been.”
The 2026 vehicles could possibly be taller and fewer inflexible than the present ones, which, working very near the bottom, require robust stabilizing motion from the suspension system. Subsequently, Pirelli has each curiosity in elevating the 2024 vehicles within the checks and softening their suspension changes, components that enormously have an effect on how forces are transmitted to the tires. One other vital distinction between the Ferrari and McLaren that fought for the title in Abu Dhabi and people presently testing in Barcelona.
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