Second and final day of Pirelli testing at Silverstone focused on developing the 2026 wet-weather tires. As yesterday, Mercedes again took part in the test, fielding a mule car derived from the 2024 W15, driven by George Russell.
Today’s program focused on comparative testing between different prototypes of full wet and intermediate tires and, as was the case yesterday, took place on the National layout of the British track, 2.630 kilometers long, and artificially soaked using water trucks.
George Russell completed a total of 80 laps, with the fastest time being 46.190 seconds, bringing the total distance covered over the two days to 481 kilometers.
“First of all, I would like to thank Mercedes and their drivers for their cooperation: returning to the track right after coming back from a Grand Prix on the other side of the Atlantic is a major effort, and we greatly appreciated it,” commented Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport Director. “It was a very useful test session because it allowed us to gather interesting insights into wet-weather tires after those already obtained at Paul Ricard last January.”
“As for the intermediates, we confirmed that the development direction taken on track aligns with expectations, while for the full wets, the feedback received is still inconclusive and will need to be analyzed carefully in the coming days to continue the work in the best way to improve the product for next season.”
The next testing session ahead of 2026, this time focused on slicks, is scheduled for June 3 and 4 in Barcelona. On the track that will host the Spanish Grand Prix the previous weekend, Mercedes will be joined by Racing Bulls.
The next appointment for wet-weather tire testing is instead set for June 19 and 20, when Ferrari will conduct exclusive work at its private Fiorano track, which is equipped with an artificial asphalt irrigation system.
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