Lance Stroll has explained the pros and cons of the new 18-inch tyres which will make their debut in F1 in 2022. The Aston Martin driver was able to test the new rubber with last year's car, and says that there are some key plus points compared to the previous 13-inch tyres. "They definitely behave differently," Stroll told media including RacingNews365.com . "I think the behaviour has been pretty good. [That was] my first initial feeling, but of course, very different cars. We tried them on last year's car at the end of the season, which is a really different car to this year's car. "So I think it's to be taken, not with a grain of salt, but I think there's definitely going to be a lot of differences with the new car with these tyres than the tyres on last year's car. "I expect a lot of differences, but the tyre seems to behave well. My first impression [was] that it was more robust to overheating, less degradation, better wear rates."
Challenges of larger surface area
However, Stroll admits that there are some areas where the tyres may pose some difficulties. "It definitely has its challenges," the Canadian said of the 18-inch rubber. "It's a much bigger tyre, so the surface area on the ground is more. It's more contact patch of the tyre on the ground, and when the tyre does give up, it seems to go into more of a slide, which is harder to catch from the 13-inch. "[With the 13-inch] it was kind of easier to catch small snaps, whereas this tyre, because of the extra contact patch, kind of gives you a lot of grip, and then once it goes, it seems to go a little bit more without any kind of indication of that coming. "So, [it's still] early days, but that was kind of my first feeling of the tyre."
Visbility could pose an issue
Stroll also feels that visibility could be a problem with the larger tyres. "You can’t see much and I haven't tried it with the fairing either!" he added. "So I expect it to be pretty tough to see where you’re going. That's going to be very different – visually – from inside the cockpit. "It's a good thing I'm in my sixth season and I've memorised a lot of the tracks, because if this was my first season, man, it wouldn't be easy!" Stroll and teammate Sebastian Vettel launched Aston Martin's 2022 car, the AMR22, at the team's launch event last week .
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