I would not have been "shocked" if they switched to 16" wheels, but I also am not shocked that they are remaining with the 18". A quote from the article posted above...
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It would also create an additional challenge for the teams on top of everything else that they will have to deal with heading into the new era.
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While the article calls out the marketing side and also pushback from Pirelli, I really suspect the real reason is teams just want to manage the amount of change going into 2026. And that adapting to a smaller diameter wheel is an area in which they would have to spend money and is likely not going to be a performance differentiator (i.e. spending money in that area doesn't give them a performance bonus when compared to the other teams). I think the teams just pushed back and said "we don't want to do this".
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Originally Posted by Taxi645
With open wheel formula's drag becomes part of the equation much more than in touring classes. Especially now that they are focussing so much on efficiency. Sure one can reduce the tire height to get the same effect. I do think the drivers will love the effect that will have on their spines with the current and 2026 cars being already extremely stiff to keep the underside in the optimum flow regime. We can already predict the media topics, start 2026 seasons: "Drivers complain ride comfort is unacceptable in new generation cars".
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/n...sues/10588284/
And this is still with the current much higher tire height than what Pirelli is proposing for 2026. |
I "think" you are saying that if they keep the wheel diameter the same, but slightly reduce the overall tire diameter that this results in a smaller sidewall. And with all things being equal, the smaller sidewalls should result in a the tire acting as a stiffer "spring". And that this will make the cars more harsh from a ride quality perspective? I agree with the basic logic (smaller sidewalls generally being stiffer), but disagree with the outcome (harsher ride level)
Overall motion of the car relative to the road is commonly expresses as the suspension movement (spring rates, motion ratio, suspension frequency, etc.) and to some degree act as if the wheel/tire combo are fixed. But (as I call out above) the tire is a spring (and damper) itself. So it is part of the overall suspension. So if the new tires have a slightly higher spring rate, they can reduce the spring rate of the suspension a bit to arrive at an overall spring rate that would match that of the prior tire/sidewall. The effect on a road car would a harsher ride as you not adjusting your car's spring rates to match the stiffer sidewalls. But race cars are not bound by those setup limits.
In short, what the driver feels shouldn't be any different. If you want to improve driver comfort, then overall less stiff cars would help. Of which teams could do today if they wanted, but don't as it would allow the underbody to get outside of it's optimal operating windows. So the teams make they as stiff as they can get away with. You just don't want them so stiff they skate across the really bumpy stuff.
Richard