Leclerc brings Pirelli tyre test at Fiorano to an end

After Ferrari's reserve driver Zhou Guanyu had completed the first day of the Pirelli tyre testing, it was Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc to bring the two-day on-track action to an end.

The final development test for the 2026 intermediate and wet weather tyres ended today at the Fiorano circuit. The Pirelli engineers worked with Ferrari, and the target for the test was to compare various prototypes, in terms of both compound and construction.

Ferrari's SF-25 has been modified so that the 2026 tyres that will feature new dimensions could be fitted. The test was run on the artificially watered track, making use of the irrigation system at the Maranello marque’s private test track.

Leclerc took over the modified SF-25 from Zhou Guanyu, and he completed a total of 110 laps, the best in 59.210s, set on slicks, while his quickest lap on intermediates was a 1m06.180s.

“First of all, I want to thank Ferrari for their hospitality and technical support as well as for the commitment from their drivers,” commented Mario Isola, Pirelli Director of Motorsport. “These two days of testing have been very useful, allowing us to round off the on-track development work for next year’s intermediate and full wet tyres.

"Now we will carefully analyse all the data and finalise the definitive solutions. It’s never easy working on the development of rain tyres, because it’s hard to consistently replicate track conditions and temperature also plays an important part.

"That’s even more the case this year because the mule cars obviously cannot fully replicate the loads and behaviour expected from the cars built to the new 2026 regulations.

"We had to make the best of the situation and I think we have obtained some interesting results, which, next year, will allow us to provide teams with an improved product, both in terms of performance and the operating window, when compared to the current tyres.”

The next test session for 2026 will take place at Silverstone in the week following the British Grand Prix.