FIA says time spent on rejected 2020 tires was not wasted

Sebastian Vettel tests Pirelli’s proposed 2020 rubber at Abu Dhabi after the Formula 1 season finale.

The FIA insists that efforts to develop the now-rejected 2020 tires will not be wasted.

“The lessons learned will be invaluable for the further improvement of the tires in the future,” the statement read.

However, Pirelli boss Mario Isola is preempting the teams’ likely next complaints by insisting that tire pressures will need to be raised in 2020.

“The 2020 cars will have more downforce,” Isola said. “We expect the teams to find between one and 1.5 seconds. More downforce means a higher load on the tire, so we have to take countermeasures.”

Although some teams, including Haas F1 Team, were vehemently critical of Pirelli’s 2019 tires, the teams voted unanimously to scrap the proposed tires for 2020.

Pirelli said the teams argued that the 2020 tires were requiring considerable aerodynamic changes to their cars’ designs and that they instead wanted “stability” ahead of the major rule changes for 2021.

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