First Track Time For 2021 Specification 18-Inch F1 Tyres

[Nick Gregory]

One other note and I can't find where I read it but it has been suggested that the smaller rims meant the designers couldn't go big on brakes.

The real reason for the 18 inch rims, is to attract other tire manufacturers. Michelin for example has said they would consider F1 again if they went to 18 inch rims.

 

[CreamyCornCob]

Drivers say "Looks good, but my spine and pelvis are going to turn to dust" The normal stuff on track will be ok, but if these boys get it wrong and launch over a curb at Imola or Singapore

Not quite gonna happen but What An Awesome Post that needs repeating.
Someone asked above about the difference. The 18"rs will be like night and day.
All of that side loading, tire roll, corner/brake loading to name a couple will require a big dif in setup.

Then in 2021 with the new car, most all their setup data will be close to useless.

 

[Bobby Pennington]

Not quite gonna happen but What An Awesome Post that needs repeating.
Someone asked above about the difference. The 18"rs will be like night and day.
All of that side loading, tire roll, corner/brake loading to name a couple will require a big dif in setup.

Then in 2021 with the new car, most all their setup data will be close to useless.

Thanks man. I just try to bring cheer and humor to the threads when I can. Every now and then I'll get serious and offer bad advice, but I love the community so they humor an uhumm older dude

I agree with you. The setups will be so different now because the tire is so much of the suspension with the current wheel/tire combo and always has been. Now we're going to see more suspension movement to absorb things. One thing I wonder about is how they will go through Eau Rouge. Now, they bottom out on bumpstops and the tires absorb a lot of energy, but with thinner side walls they will not be able to absorb as much. Will this mean and increased ride height? Idk. The engineers will probably figure some way to work it out.

 

[Diogo Goetz Brand]

Like anything beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I'm not a fan. I know why they're doing it. It makes more sense for the tire companies but those big kick-ass tires of yore just looked like they meant the business. These look delicate. It's like putting a 22 inch wheel on a funny car. Might be closer to the road car but then again a F1 car or a funny car have pretty much zero in common with the road car. But hey, progress baby!

One other note and I can't find where I read it but it has been suggested that the smaller rims meant the designers couldn't go big on brakes. With the increased rim, if they do not want braking at the 25 metre sign, they'll have to write it into the regs for 2021.

13 inch wheels were mandated in the past as a means to limit brake size, but there's no reason to put massive brakes inside the wheels anymore. They may become bigger than now, but sooner or later the braking force will be limited by the tyre grip

The real reason for the 18 inch rims, is to attract other tire manufacturers. Michelin for example has said they would consider F1 again if they went to 18 inch rims.

I really don't think so. Michelin has manifested their interest, but the people over at F1 already said they don't plan on switching away from Pirelli, and having more than one manufacturer is also something they don't plan on doing because it might cause the tyres to make more of a difference in performance than the cars themselves.

 

[CreamyCornCob]

Yes /\. With all of the massive cost cutting on its way, the very last thing F1 is looking for is a tire war - $gain.

 

[RichardHessels]

Not quite gonna happen but What An Awesome Post that needs repeating.
Someone asked above about the difference. The 18"rs will be like night and day.
All of that side loading, tire roll, corner/brake loading to name a couple will require a big dif in setup.

Then in 2021 with the new car, most all their setup data will be close to useless.

The car's will be redesigned from the ground up for these wheels.
So expect better functioning dampers to make up for the static damping the old tires would provide.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Looks good, but won't do anything for the non-excitement of F1. Loose the wings and massive downforces and races will be so much more attractive again. Bring back the good old clutch and H-shifter and it's all about the quality of the driver once more. Finally fix the broken engine sounds and both drivers and spectators will be happy.

It's not that hard to fix F1

 

[111jack]

Anyone who says "oh I wish F1 sticks with 13 inch wheels because they look better" after seeing this needs an urgent appointment with an eye doctor.

See F1 has an history, and it's hurt me more when young people blindly accept everything, you know why was chosen 13 inch ??
Because when F1 was real, teams try to find clever solutions to circumvent the regulation, and one of this was to use exessive brakes discs so Fia rule was that the disc should be inside the rim and the rim 13 inch easy and simple.

 

[Will Mazeo]

the shining brake disks are going to look amazing with these

 

[KittX]

I wonder, will the new redesign of cars also include slightly higher seat position? Clearly, the bigger the front wheels, the more visibility is obscured.

 

[odiopower]

Badass looking!

 

[Jan Larsen]

Am I the only one who thinks it looks a bit...odd? Like they're too big for the car.

 

[Raikku]

the shining brake disks are going to look amazing with these

With colored brake calibers...

 

[farjam]

Am I the only one who thinks it looks a bit...odd? Like they're too big for the car.

Well, this 18 inch tyres are fitted on a 2018 mule car, the real ones will be on 2021 cars that will be build to work with 18 inch tyres, visual and performance wise, like the 2016/2017 switch that the cars got wider for wider tyre.

 

[emarchena]

With colored brake calibers...

And spinner chrome rims

 

[KittX]

With colored brake calibers...

And spinner chrome rims

Do not forget to paint dampers in yellow!

 

[Andrew Harper]

I wonder, will the new redesign of cars also include slightly higher seat position? Clearly, the bigger the front wheels, the more visibility is obscured.

The overall diameter is the same so the actual wheel and tyre combination is no different. However when you have a wheel this size it does a sort of optical illusion and the wheel looks bigger.

I’m not too bothered about the change. I think we’ll get used to it after a few races. I’d prefer maybe a slightly bigger sidewall but that’s it, the front tyre/wheel looks slightly awkward in my view.

I tried to think of this in reverse. How would Le Mans prototypes looks with current F1 tyres? they’d look silly too. So it’s a case of what you get used to.

I believe the reasoning behind it is purely marketing. Like hybrid engines. Pirelli want more of a road car link and low profile is more in tune with sports cars, etc than the high sidewalls they have now. Oddly though it actually does less for marketing because the smaller sidewall means smaller logos, which means they are probably harder to see.

What I find interesting about all of this is the technical change, this will make a huge difference in suspension design, setup and how the car behaves over bumps. Whoever gets this right will have a huge advantage. All the teams are probably running tones of simulation data with these wheel/tyre combos to find out what they’d be like.

 

[misha_24]

Not so horrible as i thought

 

[Ofitus21]

Like anything beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I'm not a fan. I know why they're doing it. It makes more sense for the tire companies but those big kick-ass tires of yore just looked like they meant the business. These look delicate. It's like putting a 22 inch wheel on a funny car. Might be closer to the road car but then again a F1 car or a funny car have pretty much zero in common with the road car. But hey, progress baby!

One other note and I can't find where I read it but it has been suggested that the smaller rims meant the designers couldn't go big on brakes. With the increased rim, if they do not want braking at the 25 metre sign, they'll have to write it into the regs for 2021.

Bigger brake discs, but there´ll be a rule on how much force can the brake callipers can make. Plus I´m pretty sure discs will be made out of carbon ceramics rather than carbon carbon in 2021, so, if anything, braking zones will be slightly longer. Plus the laarger discs will probably solve many of the issues teams have cooling the brakes

 

[josap11]

Crap, that actually looks way better than I expected.