ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—Arrivederci 13 inch! Ciao 18 inch!
The checkered flag at the end of this past weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix signaled not only the end of the race and completion of the 2021 season, but it also brought the 13-inch rim diameter tire era in Formula 1 to an end after nearly seven decades as the series' spec.
Starting with the 2022 season, the international single-seat open-wheel racing series—considered to be the pinnacle of motorsports—adapts an 18-inch rim diameter tire spec.
To mark the occasion, designated tire supplier Pirelli & C. S.p.A. branded every tire used at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with bright black-on-yellow logo on the sidewall: "Next year I turn 18."
The tire maker first proposed shifting the F1 tire designation to 18 inches as long ago as 2010, when it first took over the F1 spec tire contract. The first 18-inch prototypes debuted in 2014 during a testing session at England's Silverstone circuit.
The FIA approved the shift to the 18-inch spec in 2018, with the tire's debut set for the 2021 season together with a package of new technical regulations, but that move was pushed back to 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the meantime, Pirelli successfully ran 18-inch tires in Formula 2, a racing series one step below F1 in the sport's ladder system.
Pirelli has carried out 36 days of on-track testing with the 18-inch tires since the 2020 season with cars that were modified to accommodate the new size. More testing was scheduled the week of Dec. 13 at the Abu Dhabi circuit.
The 13-inch tire spec first was used in the early 1960s, Pirelli said, but the current spec was cemented into the rulebook in the early 1980s.
During the past decade as the sport's sole tire supplier, Pirelli has produced over 400,000 13-inch F1 race tires at factories in Izmit, Turkey, and Slatina, Romania.