Formula 2 to use 18-inch tyres in 2020

Formula 2 will introduce 18-inch wheels next season ahead of the same switch Formula 1 will make in 2021.

Pirelli plans to use the 2020 F2 season as a means to test the 18-inch wheels and develop the rubber that will be used in F1 the following season. 

During the 2019 campaign, Pirelli and F2 will work together in an "intensive testing programme" using an F2-spec car and the 18-inch wheels.

On Wednesday, May 8th, the initial shakedown of the awaiting tests took place at the Autodromo del Mugello in Itlay.

“We are delighted to introduce 18-inch tyres to Grand Prix weekends next season, a full year before they race in Formula 1,” said Pirelli’s head of F1 Mario Isola.

“This move will assist us greatly as we develop a new generation of Formula 1 tyres for 2021, and also benefit next year’s Formula 2 drivers themselves as they gain early experience of the future tyre size in Formula 1.”

F2 will be in action alongside F1 this weekend in Barcelona, with the third round of the season kicking off on Friday afternoon. 

F2 CEO Bruno Michel added: “This is a great opportunity for Formula 2 and our drivers: we are the training ground for Formula 1 and as such it is important that we race with the same type of tyres as the ones used in F1.

"I am very pleased that F2 will race with the 18 inch tyres as early as 2020 which means that the drivers who will graduate from our championship to F1 in 2021 will be able to adapt even quicker.

"This is not the first time that we have been a test bed for F1 and in the past some new elements were implemented at our level before then being applied to F1.

"The next step is an intensive development programme to ensure that everything is ready for next season, notably an upgrade kit for our 2018 cars to fit the new tyres.”