Pirelli rain tyre test: Kimi Antonelli runs 2026 prototypes at Silverstone. Kimi Antonelli tests Pirelli’s 2026 wet tyres at Silverstone’s National circuit.

Pirelli wet the National layout of the British circuit using water tankers: on track was the Bolognese driver at the wheel of a W15 mule car. He covered 270 km with intermediate and full wet tyres. Tomorrow it will be George Russell’s turn to continue the program.

Pirelli continues the development of the 2026 tyres: the Milan-based company scheduled two days of testing at the Silverstone track, focusing on the wet tyre range of the Cinturato line—full wet and intermediate—which were first tested last January at the Paul Ricard circuit, when McLaren was on track.

Mercedes took part in this session, providing a mule car based on the 2024 W15. At the wheel were the two official drivers: Kimi Antonelli, on track today, and George Russell, who will continue the work tomorrow.

The tests were conducted on the National version of the British circuit, 2.630 km long, which was artificially wetted using water tankers. The young Bolognese driver completed a total of 103 laps, equal to about 270 km, setting a best time of 47.560 seconds. The morning program was focused on the intermediate tyres, while in the afternoon the work shifted to the full wet tyres.

Credit must be given to Pirelli for its commitment to analysing tyres for more agile single-seaters, even though the FIA’s technical regulations have not yet been defined in detail: the Milanese company must proceed somewhat blindly, but with the new products needing to be approved by the end of the year, time is running out…