Gastaldi happy with the 18'' tyre but Chester wants a year of development before it is introduced in F1

(Pirelli Motorsport Media)

Lotus F1 Team deputy team principal Frederico Gastaldi has hailed Pirelli's new low profile Formula One tyre which his outfit trialed during last week's Silverstone test. Lotus test driver Charles Pic completed 14 laps on the new tyre. Speaking about the potential to use the new tyre's Gastaldi commented:

'Regarding the tyres, they are important not only for the performance of the car but also how the cars look, I think that fans and especially kids want to look at an F1 car and say 'wow', it looks amazing. While it is important for us to have a technical identification with the automotive industry there does need to be certain aspects that stand out more as well, too. So maybe even larger sizes are the answer?'

Lotus technical director Nick Chester believes that the new tyre must undergo extensive wind-tunnel testing before it can be introduced into Formula One. The prototype tyre received a great reception from the team and Charles Pic, however he believes that driver's may find it difficult to handle the new lower profile tyre's.

Pirelli's main aim behind the introduction of the new rubber is so that they have a cross over in the development programme's for both Formula One and their road car production. Gastaldi went on to say:

'It remains to be seen what the FIA will decide upon for the future but we were happy to help Pirelli with the first steps in the process. We are all racers at Enstone and we care about the future of the sport deeply'.

Chester is skeptical about the introduction of the new tyre, saying:

'Having 18-inch tyres would have a big impact on design. We would want to be testing in the wind tunnel for at least a year ahead of their introduction. The ride height and suspension packages would have to be changed and the tyre profile itself would be very different. It would be an interesting challenge.'

The new concept tyre was tested with the current E22 chassis and Pirelli have said that although the plan is to introduce the new tyre in 2017 but they have admitted that they could in fact introduce the new tyre as early as 2016 with would allow the company to work together with the team's and the FIA in testing the new tyre.

© Ben Johnston 2014