Pirelli Tire Development for 2025 and 2026 at Mugello
Finally, the rain eased off at Mugello, allowing the second day of testing to proceed as planned.
Four drivers were in action at the Tuscan track: as he did Tuesday, October 8, 2024, reserve driver Liam Lawson got behind the wheel for Oracle Red Bull Racing, while McLaren F1 Team fielded race driver Lando Norris. Scuderia Ferrari HP was only scheduled to run Wednesday, with Carlos Sainz driving the SF-24 in the morning before handing over to Charles Leclerc for the afternoon. Once again, the Pirelli engineers worked on two parallel programs: Red Bull and Ferrari focused on compound development for 2025, particularly the hardest compound planned for next season, while McLaren ran a mule car for its first experience with prototype tires for the 2026 season.
During the first hour in the morning, the track remained damp, so all three cars ran on intermediate tires, which provided useful information—especially as Mugello is such a demanding track. From 11:00 AM onwards, slicks were used, allowing the teams to complete their planned programs.
Throughout the day, a total of 390 laps were completed. Lando Norris drove the most laps (118, with a time of 1:21.302), followed by Liam Lawson (116 laps, 1:23.219), Charles Leclerc (79 laps, 1:21.053), and Carlos Sainz (77 laps, 1:21.890).
The next stage of compound development for next year will take place on October 25 during the second free practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix, designated as an in-competition test, while work on the 2026 prototypes resumes on November 13 and 14 at Magny-Cours (France) with a mule car run by the Alpine team.
Photography and article © 2024 Pirelli & C. S.p.A.
