Pirelli Completes 2026 F1 Tire Testing at Jerez

The third test session of 2025 came to an end this afternoon at the Angel Nieto circuit in Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain. Once again, testing centred on development of the 2026 tyres, which as previously mentioned maintain the current 18” diameter, while being slightly narrower, by 25 millimetres at the front and 30 at the rear. This session followed on from those at Le Castellet in January and in Barcelona last week. These two days focussed on a comparison of several different constructions and compounds.

Three teams were on track: BWT Alpine F1 Team ran both days, joined yesterday by the McLaren F1 Team and today by the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 TEAM. Today, the Australian Jack Doohan ran a mule car based on the Alpine A523, while Englishman George Russell was at the wheel of a W15, the car he drove last season, adapted to fit the new dimension of tyre. A total of 248 laps were completed, split as follows: 113 for Doohan and 135 for Russell. The two teams ran different programmes so their performance cannot be compared, but for the record, the Australian’s best lap time was a 1’17’’255 and the Englishman posted a 1’17’976.

“Yet another good test in the early days of 2025, thanks to the vital collaboration of the three teams involved,” commented Pirelli’s Director of Motorsport, Mario Isola. “In addition to the data gathered in Paul Ricard and the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, we now have a great deal of very important information from the Jerez circuit. Even though it has not featured on the championship calendar for many years now, it is still an interesting test bench, partly down to the good weather it enjoys at this time of year. Now we still have one more test session prior to the start of the 2025 season, to bring to an end this initial and crucial phase of working on track. The information gathered so far will allow us to direct our development in an ever more precise fashion for the coming tests.”

Pirelli’s next session will take place at the Sakhir circuit on 2 and 3 March, when Alpine will once again be on track, this time joined by Williams.

Source: Pirelli