Testing of 18-inch Pirelli tires for Alfa Romeo, Alpine, and Red Bull

These tests allowed the three teams: Alfa Romeo Racing, Alpine, and Red Bull to give their feedback on the new 18-inch tires that will be introduced in Formula 1 from 2022. Pirelli will not be short of data after these two days of testing with a total of 614 laps covered by these teams during the two days.

The French team Alpine rolled only one day in the two tests and therefore is the team that has driven the least laps with still 123 passages for the former AlphaTauri driver, Daniil Kvyat. It was Robert Kubica who was behind the wheel of the Alfa Romeo for these Pirelli tests, shortly after driving the C41 during the first free practice session of the Spanish GP, covering 240 laps. Finally, Alexander Albon, the Thai driver, made his return with Red Bull in F1 for these tests, covering a distance of 251 laps.

Little photo review of the look of these new 18-inch tires fitted to the Alfa Romeo C41.

These tests were therefore an opportunity for Russian driver Daniil Kvyat to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car for the first time since the end of the 2020 season. He spoke after these tests: « We covered a lot of useful distance with next year’s tires. I think it’s a good thing for the team’s future development, so I’m really happy to contribute to it. We gathered a lot of good information and I hope it will be useful for the team in the future. »

« I quickly felt very comfortable in the car, almost as if I hadn’t taken a break, so we were able to attack the program directly and we finished everything quite quickly. It was really nice to be back in a Formula 1, very moving and very cool to drive this beast again. I can’t wait to be back behind the wheel.

Although Alpine was only able to participate in one day of testing this week, it will have the opportunity to do so again on September 15th and 16th at the Magny-Cours circuit. The Austrian Red Bull team, for its part, has one last testing day scheduled for July 20th at the birthplace of Formula 1 in Silverstone. Alfa Romeo, on the other hand, will no longer be driving in the context of the Pirelli 18-inch tire tests.

Today we welcome back another familiar face: @kvyatofficial returns in new overalls with @AlpineF1Team. He’ll be getting his first taste of the R.S 18 car, with a full day of testing the latest #Fit4F1 2022 18-inch tyre prototypes at @Circuitcat_eng. pic.twitter.com/4aqN2pKFS8

— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) May 12, 2021

For Alpine, the next Pirelli tests will take place at home on the Magny-Cours circuit on September 15 and 16, on a wet track, while Alfa Romeo has had its only contribution to the program since the team will no longer participate in the 18-inch tire testing. For Red Bull, a final day is scheduled at Silverstone on July 20, on a dry track.

The next Pirelli tire test appointment for the 18-inch tires will be on May 25 and 26 at the Paul Ricard circuit for the championship-dominating team, Mercedes. On July 6 and 7, it will be at Spielberg that AlphaTauri will make its mark with this change that will take effect in 2022. On July 20 and 21, Haas and Aston Martin will join Red Bull, who will participate only on the first day, at Silverstone. On August 3 and 4, McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari will perform test laps with these tires in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Finally, on September 15 and 16, the last testing session for Pirelli with Alpine at Magny-Cours, as mentioned earlier.

One day of testing for @AlpineF1Team and @kvyatofficial in @Circuitcat_eng: they racked up 66 laps of testing this afternoon and 123 in total over the whole day. Alpine is back testing 2022 #fit4f1 18-inch tyres in the wet at Magny-Cours in France from 15-16 September. pic.twitter.com/0Os1PVjrOW

— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) May 12, 2021