Tire maker Pirelli has renewed its F1 contract and "will remain the sport's sole tyre supplier for the next three years," according to REUTERS. The news "was expected," with the FIA saying last October the contract would continue through an undefined "transition period" before any eventual tender. Pirelli had talked then of a five-year deal. Pirelli "also announced changes to the sporting regulations that will allow them more testing time." The new rules "will mean one of the 12 days of official pre-season testing will have to be dedicated exclusively to wet tyre testing" (REUTERS, 1/16). The PA reported each team "will dedicate one of their eight days of in-season testing exclusively to tyre testing." This means during each of the eight days of in-season testing, at least one team -- and up to a maximum of two -- "will concentrate on tyre testing along with Pirelli's engineers." Previously, Pirelli was forced to use a car at least three years old -- therefore "entirely different in terms of specification to current models -- to develop its tyres" (PA, 1/16).
