Formula 1 News: Important 2026 Pirelli F1 tire test Tuesday in Abu Dhabi

The 2025 Formula 1 season is over, but the action on track isn’t: all 20 cars will be back in action at the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit on Tuesday, with one IndyCar driver behind the wheel – Pato O’Ward (pictured).

Ten of them will be “mule cars” run by the teams to test Pirelli’s all-new 2026 tire range. These tires are slightly smaller and narrower than the current ones, and their internal construction is very different because of the sport’s new technical regulations.

When Pirelli asked the teams for their predicted downforce levels at the end of 2026, the answers varied wildly from one team to the next.

“It was harder for the teams to predict how their 2026 cars will perform by the end of the season,” Pirelli’s Mario Isola explained. “We needed those forecasts because we have to design a tire that will last an entire year. If they only tell us where the car will be at the start of the season and we have no idea how fast development will be, it’s impossible for us to get it right.”

So Pirelli has developed a wider range of compounds than usual, giving them flexibility if the actual downforce levels in 2026 end up higher or lower than the teams expect.

The mule cars are modified 2025-spec machines set up to produce much less downforce—closer to what the 2026 cars will generate—although they can’t perfectly replicate the new cars, especially since the 2026 regulations include active aerodynamics.

“We agreed on some testing limitations with the teams after the first runs,” Isola said. “For example, we avoided overloading the tires on the straights by imposing speed caps around 290–300 km/h, because the 2026 cars will obviously have far less downforce in a straight line. Thanks to those agreed protocols, the feedback from the mule cars has been much more consistent and relevant.”

Regardless of what’s learned this week, the 2026 compounds themselves won’t change—they’ve already been homologated. This test will simply help Pirelli decide which compounds to bring to each race next year.

Pirelli has shipped every 2026 compound to Yas Marina except the hardest dry tire (C1) and the full-wet.

The other ten cars on track will be part of the traditional post-season young driver test. Only drivers with two or fewer Grand Prix starts are eligible to participate.

Entry list for 2025 F1 Abu Dhabi post-season test