Okay, picture this: the smell of burning rubber still hanging in the air over Silverstone. Yeah, that’s how I imagine it. Pirelli, those folks glued to F1 tires, didn’t even give themselves a break after the British Grand Prix. Nope, straight into testing for the fancy 2026 tires. I mean, who does that? Anyway, Sauber and Aston Martin jumped on board. Kinda nice of them, right?
So here’s the deal: they were all about sussing out the three toughest compounds. C1, C2, and C3—sounds like a boring set of bingo numbers, but it’s tire talk. Mornings were like short sprints—imagine short dashes for compound prowess. Then afternoons, they went all marathon-like, stretching out for the big tests.
Lance Stroll—yeah that guy—was doing his dance with the Aston Martin AMR25. And he wasn’t just cruising, folks. 126 laps? That’s some dedication right there. His best? A cool 1m30.195s. I remember when thirty minutes felt like a sprint. But hey, time’s weird in racing.
Day two, enter Gabriel Bortoleto with a merged Sauber beast, the C45. Tweaked for the future shoes, or should I say tires? Did a 110-lap tango with that machine. Best time clocked at 1m33.188s. Think about it, the guy’s probably watching the second hand tick while steering.
Mario Isola from Pirelli’s camp chimed in—thankfully no corporate spiel, really—they’re knee-deep in tire wizardry, aiming to crack constructions by September. The tire-stressed Silverstone track showed its love (or wrath). More tests coming up, like a never-ending relay: Hungary, Monza, Mugello, Mexico City. I should map this out—like a tire-testing world tour or something.
So, maybe it’s not all set in stone for Pirelli yet. November’s the cutoff. It’s like waiting for a season finale. Or maybe I’m just overthinking. Who knows? Racing always gives me the what-ifs. Anyway, onwards to more tire tango, wherever the road bends.
