F1: Pirelli abandons prototype tire until 2017

Pirelli has abandoned plans to introduce its prototype tire into Formula 1 this year after analysis found inconsistencies in the data supplied by the teams that ran it.

The Italian manufacturer developed a new soft compound designed to be more resistant to impacts with external objects such as curbs, with drivers testing it at Spa and Monza. Pirelli racing manager Mario Isola said some teams complained about a lack of grip, which puzzled the tire supplier because the compound was "exactly the same."

As a result, Pirelli has decided to abandon plans to introduce the compound for the next grand prix in Malaysia and postponed its debut until 2017.

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"We have analyzed all the datas and unfortunately we have some inconsistency across the teams," Isola said. "The feedback was not the same for all the teams so we have decided to keep the current specification until the end of the year. I want to reiterate the fact that the current specification is safe."

Pirelli still intends to pursue the development and is aiming to run it in 2017-spec in an upcoming test with a mule car.

"We feel this concept in the prototype is something we have to consider for 2017 tires," he said. "It's not abandoned. We will test this idea in 2017 prototype with the big size with the new cars.

"We need to investigate as we have all the telemetry data from the teams and the feedback from the drivers. In some cases, you know the tires were not tested properly as it was not a back-to-back between the current specification of the soft and the prototype.

"We want to have a proper test and it will happen with 2017 tires, comparing the base against the prototype, in the same conditions, on the track, for the same number of laps, on the same fuel loads and with the same setup. This is a proper comparison where we can understand the performance of the tire."

Originally on Autosport.com