McLaren duo try out 18-inch tyres in second Pirelli test

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris have become the first front-line F1 drivers to test Pirelli’s 18-inch tyres, as the pair tried out the larger rubber – set to be introduced in 2021 – around the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France.

Sainz completed 39 laps of the circuit on Thursday 7 November – his track time limited due to poor weather – before Norris took over the car for Friday, completing 106 laps in brighter conditions.

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The test follows on the back of former Williams racer Sergey Sirotkin becoming the first driver to try out the tyres in September, behind the wheel of a Renault mule car, while reigning champions Mercedes are set to test the 18-inch tyres themselves in December.

The new tyres are part of a raft of regulation changes due to be introduced to Formula 1 for 2021, with the 18-inch rubber being both more road relevant than the current 13-inch tyres, as well as easier to model (and more cost effective as a result) in a simulation environment.

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