Pirelli’s final test of 2024 took place on the artificially wet Magny-Cours circuit, with a focus on full wet tyres.
The Magny-Cours circuit hosted Pirelli’s final test of 2024, with Alpine and Jack Doohan, the future team driver for 2025, taking center stage. Recently, there has been much speculation about a potential race-by-race contract for the young Australian driver.
Alpine provided the A523 car, used in the 2023 championship, but adapted to fit the 2026 wheel sizes. On the artificially wet Magny-Cours track, Doohan completed 106 laps, with the fastest one clocking in at 1:27.352.
In the end-of-day report, Pirelli also stated: “This allowed us to make up, at least partially, for the time lost yesterday. The work mainly focused on testing prototypes for extreme wet tires, with a couple of runs dedicated to intermediates as well.”
The protagonist of Pirelli’s tests at Magny-Cours was Jack Doohan, who covered important mileage in preparation for his debut in 2025.
In fact, a test of the 2026 tires was also scheduled for yesterday, again at the Magny-Cours circuit with Jack Doohan. However, the Australian driver’s Alpine encountered a technical issue, and only 47 laps were completed, with the best time being 1:16.461, achieved with dry tires.
Finally, Pirelli concluded: “This was the third and final testing session – each lasting two days – that Pirelli conducted this year in preparation for the 2026 season: the two previous ones, held in Barcelona and Mugello, were focused on dry tires. Testing in this area will resume in 2025, while on Tuesday, December 10, at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, a collective test day is scheduled to allow all teams to try the final version of the dry tires for 2025 for the first time.”
Charles Leclerc tested the dry tires for 2026 during the tests at Mugello.
Pirelli Test at Magny-Cours: working to improve the wet tires after drivers’ criticisms.
In the previous days, several drivers criticized the wet tires supplied by Pirelli, following the events of the last race in Brazil. Indeed, the challenging conditions at the Interlagos circuit put the wet tires to the test, to the point that Franco Colapinto, on full-wet tires, was involved in a violent crash while attempting to catch up to the Safety Car.
On this topic, Fernando Alonso spoke out, stating to DAZN microphones after the race: “The conditions weren’t ideal, but we don’t even have Formula 1 tires. When it rains a little, there’s always aquaplaning and accidents. Sometimes you can’t even follow the Safety Car.” .
Yuki Tsunoda with full-wet tires during the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Japanese driver was the fastest on track before the red flag was waved.
These statements were joined by those of Oscar Piastri, who highlighted the difficulties, mainly with the full-wet tires: “The red flag came too late; it should have been shown before Colapinto’s crash. Honestly, the hardest part was staying on track behind the Safety Car. We need to address the issue with the Wet tire because everyone asks for a red flag but they don’t want to switch to the Wets because they’re ineffective.”
PHOTO: Pirelli, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team.