Today’s press conference with James Vowles, Frederic Vasseur, and Mario Isola.
Q: Mario, why don’t we start with you? An exciting week last week for Pirelli. We saw the 2026 tires break cover. What can you tell us about the test in Barcelona? Mario Isola: Yeah, obviously it was the first test, a bit difficult. Our main job was to try to correlate simulations with mule car. We know that mule cars cannot be representative considering that 2026 cars are completely different, but I believe we did a good job and thanks to Aston Martin, that was the first team running the test, [we got] valuable information and probably also a good starting point as a baseline for future development.
Q: Can you tell us any more about the information you got from Aston Martin or the driver Felipe Drugovich? MI: The main topic was to understand the mechanical balance and the aero balance of the car. So, for example, we decided to run always with the DRS open in order to compensate the front and rear load and then they made some adjustments obviously to the set-up of the car, to balance the car properly. But the new size is working well. We didn’t find any issue in running or any, like, a lot of graining or other elements that could affect the test. So we are happy with this first test and we’re ready for the next two sessions.
Q: Well, tell us what’s the plan going forward? Aston has had a go. Which team is next? MI: McLaren then and Alpine for a wet test. This is to the end of the year. And then obviously we are finalizing the test plan for 2025 with all the teams that gave their availability to make a mule car for us. So we are very happy that we can test with all of them.
Q: You mentioned 2025. Just a quick word on where you are with next year’s tire compounds. Are they confirmed now? MI: The construction, the new specifications have been homologated by the 1st of September, as per regulations. And then now we are in the process of fine-tuning compounds. We have a few options. We have Mugello, where we are going to finalize the Hard compounds, and then we have another couple of sessions, and the in-competition test in Mexico, where we are going to test the Soft compounds in FP2 with all the teams with different run plans. So I believe we are in a good position to finalize the tire for 2025.
Q: And Mario, a quick word on the here and now in 2024. We saw a sensational race in Baku last weekend. Did the tires perform as you expected there? MI: Yeah, to be honest, yes, we made some analysis after the race, as we always do, and we didn’t find anything, I would say, strange. Obviously, there are many elements that are affecting the tire behavior, from the set-up of the car, track evolution, first laps of the stint that obviously are affecting the level of degradation. But the tires were working well, we had some teams able to extract good performance from the tires, and this is exactly what we wanted to achieve in a race that was super interesting. But it was not just Baku, it was Monza, it was Spa. In the last few weeks we had a lot of races that have been super exciting. Clearly, when you have all the teams that are very close in terms of performance, any detail can make a difference, and this is exactly what is happening.
Q: Final one from me. Quick word on Singapore, the Marina Bay circuit. There has been some resurfacing work ahead of this year’s race. How are you expecting that to affect tire performance? MI: We measured the grip. The grip is still good. It’s quite homogeneous. They use this high-pressure water jet treatment on the asphalt. And so I’m not expecting any surprise from the track. We have seen in FP1 that the level of grip is good. And I’m expecting a lot of track evolution, that is quite common on street circuits.
Q: Okay, Mario, thank you very much. James, can I come to you next? Two words, first up. Franco Colapinto. He’s made an impact, hasn’t he? James Vowles: Yeah, he’s done an absolutely outstanding job. Just really jumped straight into it, two feet first, and has been swimming ever since. But he’s doing brilliantly well. And to score points in your second-ever Grand Prix, to be a few seconds behind Alex, is extraordinary. And again this morning, brilliant job.
Q: Has he exceeded your expectations? JV: Yes, in as much as… We knew he was quick, that’s why we put him in the car, but expected him to take more time to get up to speed. In Monza, that was about what I would have hoped for, effectively, but going to a new track that you’ve never been to before and been on the pace, really, in FP1, and even after an accident, coming straight back onto the pace is a challenge, and he’s very, very good at absorbing all the pressure that’s on his shoulders and just delivering.
Q: What’s his most impressive quality? JV: how calm he is under pressure. There’s a huge amount of… It’s always hard to describe what happens to these elite athletes when you step up into Formula 1. It’s a completely different world and the pressure mounts exponentially and he takes it all in his stride. You can hear over the radio, just listen to his voice. He’s just incredibly calm and collected and just wants more information, more information. So it’s a sign of a really good individual that’s able to cope with what’s happening.
Q: As you say, he’s hugely impressive and knowing what you know now, do you wish you’d brought him into the team earlier in the year? JV: It’s an interesting question because in part a lot of what we were doing with him behind the scenes is developing him ready for this opportunity. So Silverstone was one of the first times he got into the car and he’d made a step clearly from where we were in Abu Dhabi the previous year. He made some steps across the winter. He’d made some steps in Formula 2. If we’d done this at the beginning of the year, I don’t think you’d see the Franco you have today. And I think there’s quite a bit of preparation that we’ve been doing in the simulator and otherwise to get him to the region where he is now. In terms of that regret, I mean, making a decision to take a driver out is one of the hardest things you can do in my position. And I had to make sure it was abundantly clear it was the right place. And for me, at the point where we upgraded the car and we’ve delivered performance with it, where it can score points, that’s the right line in the sand. So from that perspective, I’m content.
Q: Alright. That upgrade you talk about was Zandvoort. You’ve got, I think, a new floor here. Can you just tell us about the impact that is making this weekend? JV: So here’s it’s actually suspension, which is a balancing tool in aerodynamics. It really complements the aero upgrade that we put on the car in Zandvoort. But it’s working well at the moment.
Q: Final one. Can we talk about the Constructors’ Championship? You’re 18 points behind VCARB in P6. How realistic is it, do you think, to aim for P6 by the end of the year? JV: I mean, you can see this morning again, VCARB are right up there in that top 10 mix. They’re going to be quick around here. And you can’t underestimate either Haas, who they’ve been there every single race, that they’re on the pace, or VCARB particularly in that instance. The midfield is, despite us perhaps being edging a little bit ahead of them, it’s still milliseconds separating all of us. So it would be down to a little bit of fortune in racing and a little bit of us making sure we do our job right to the end of the year.
Q: Alright, James, thank you for now. And Fred, coming to you, can I put that championship question to you first of all? You’re 51 points behind McLaren, who is leading the Constructors’ Championship. You’re, what is it, 21 points behind Red Bull Racing. How high are you aiming this year? Frederic Vasseur: Well, from the beginning, we are not focused on the championship. We are taking it race after race, and I think it’s the right approach. James said it before, that the championship is really difficult to read, because it doesn’t matter if it’s the first group or the second one, it’s so tight that you can move from a good weekend, you are doing a 1-2 and the weekend after you are 7-8. Have a look at Mercedes, what they did before the break and after the break. And I think this is true for everybody. And I think it makes no sense to imagine how could be the picture in two or three months. We still have something like 400 points on the table, I think, for the team championship. And it’s a lot. It means, let’s be focused on Baku, on Singapore, and then on the next one and try to do a good job. And we’ll see at the end.
Q: Pole at Baku, four consecutive podiums now for Charles. Fred, do you feel that Ferrari has got some momentum? FV: Yeah, we are in a good sequence. But again, it was like this for everybody from the beginning of the season. If you remember the first four races that Red Bull was flying, then we had a good sequence. Then it was Mercedes, then McLaren. We are really in a pack and I don’t remember when it was so tight in F1, with four teams able to win, eight drivers able to win. And you really never know when you are going somewhere if you will fight for P1, P2, or P7, P8. It means that for sure we are in a good momentum. As you said, we did the pole position last week. Charles scored a lot of points in the last four weekends or five weekends, that Carlos is performing and he will perform this weekend again. But we never know. That it means that we have just to stay focused on the next session to try to get the best from the car that we have and to do a weekend without mistakes because this is costing a lot.
Q: Well, tell us about the upgrades you’re running here? It looks like you’ve hit the ground running. FV: Yeah, but we did one session with a new front wing with a platform a little bit different, but it won’t be a game-changer.
Check out our Friday gallery from Marina Bay here.
