Sebastian Vettel hit the track in the wake of last weekend’s German Grand Prix onboard a 2017-spec Scuderia Ferrari, providing us with a taste of what’s to come next year.
The biggest and most exciting change for next season will be the implementation of wider Pirelli tires across the entire field. Front tires will be stretched from 245 mm to 305 mm while tires at the rear will swell from 325 mm to a rather insane 405 mm. The same 13-inch wheels will be retained at the front and rear despite some proposals for 18-inchers to be adopted.
Thanks to the fitment of these new tires, grip should increase significantly, cutting lap times by some 2 seconds. In conjunction with the new rubber, F1 teams will be permitted to adopt more radical downforce-generating components, slashing a further 2 seconds off the lap times of the 2016-spec cars.
Beyond the improvements in performance, it is hoped that these changes will make the racing more exciting.
The Scuderia Ferrari team is the first outfit to test the new tires with Vettel completing 120 laps with them. Red Bull Racing will then test them out on Wednesday and Thursday while constructors championship leaders Mercedes-AMG will get their taste in early September.
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