Aston Martin to modify F1 car for 2026 tyre testing

Aston Martin has won in a "lottery process" to become the first Formula 1 team to test Pirelli’s new and slightly smaller tyres for the 2026 rules.

It was originally proposed that F1 should find some extra weight savings by reverting to 16-inch tyres for the all-new engine and chassis rules, but in the end only a very slight reduction in dimension was agreed.

"We are happy with the decision to stay on the 18-inch tyres," Pirelli’s F1 boss Mario Isola said in Austria.

"Sixteen was not the right way to go, because the loads that are predicted are still quite high and cars will be fast. We will have the first physical prototypes at the end of August, probably, and we are planning to test on track in September."

That first test will take place in Barcelona, between the Baku-Singapore double-header. Team boss Mike Krack has revealed that Aston Martin will provide the ’mule’ test car, modified to simulate 2026 levels of performance.

"There was a selection process or a lottery process because there was a number of teams who wanted to be part of this test program," he said at the Red Bull Ring.

"We were drawn first, so we are the first to do this. We’re exchanging with Pirelli what the program will be and we’re trying to replicate the car that has been defined from the FIA according to a technical directive," Krack added.