Pirelli is set to explore a "Super Intermediate" tyre to solve F1's wet weather running concerns. Poor visibility has led to a number of delays at Grands Prix in recent years as a vast amount of water is kicked up by each car on Extreme Wet tyres. Frustratingly, however, after lengthy delays and Safety Car formation laps the sight of drivers diving into the pits for Intermediates straight away is becoming ever the norm. The Belgian Grand Prix weekend was hit with multiple delays ahead of the summer break and talks are ongoing regarding a 'wet weather' package that can be retrofitted to each car to help increase safety and reduce the likelihood of lengthy waits or cancellations. Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola believes F1 could develop another solution and told media including RacingNews365 : "If the idea is to stay with the current situation, which means if there is a lot of water on track they red flag or Safety Car because they are not going to run because of visibility. "Then in my opinion, the best solution is probably to develop an Intermediate tyre, let's call it 'Super Intermediate' or an 'Intermediate+' or whatever name you want to use. "So we can cover - with one product - from the limit that is acceptable for visibility to the crossover with dry conditions."
Pirelli explored other options
"If you have a smaller tyre or narrower tyre, it means better aquaplaning resistance," added Isola. "We had discussions in the past, but it was decided to keep the same size because of the [tyre] rims. At the moment teams use the same rims for dry, Intermediate, and wet [tyres]. "Standard rims are used for all the three sets because of the balance. You have to consider that in changing the size, you can modify the balance. A car that is balanced in dry conditions can be unbalanced in wet conditions. "It probably also has an impact on the aerodynamics of the car. With the same size [rims] they are able to predict that behaviour of the wet tyre better. "The only request was to make the diameter of the Intermediate tyre five millimetres higher and the wet 10 millimetres higher, to raise a little bit the car so it's not touching standing water with the floor."
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