Apr 20, 2017
The FIA agreement with Pirelli, which supplies tires to F1 teams, provides for 25 days of tests during the season, which are designed to help the Italian company improve its products.
Last season, only Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari had sufficient resources to create "mules" - modified chassis of 2015, the level of downforce which was comparable to cars of the season-2017. In the same year, all teams agreed to hold at least one test day, working with tires for 2018.
The FIA and Pirelli agreed a test schedule and sent it to teams during the Grand prix of Bahrain.
Tests will be held on a variety of routes - in Bahrain, Barcelona, Silverstone, as well as on "Paul Ricard", "Magny-Cours" and "Interlagos".
The teams will be allowed to use the 2017 machines during these tests, but they will have to inform the FIA in advance which chassis specification, type of powerplant and electronics settings they intend to use.
This is done so that teams can not use Pirelli's tests to test their own updates and are guaranteed not to benefit from them.
The statement of the FIA says: "All teams are prohibited from testing any updates and making modifications to test machines."
During the tests, representatives of Pirelli will lead the work of collectives, and the received data will be sent to all teams. Teams are also allowed to send their observers for testing.