MONACO (May 26, 2015) — Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. tested an 18-inch GP2 tire at Monaco May 22 and declared the tire is “race-ready” and competitive with the 13-inch tires the series uses currently.
Pirelli said testing the 18-inch GP2 tire during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend was a chance to demonstrate the firm's capability to react rapidly to whichever regulations may be requested in the future. GP2 is the single-seat, open-wheel racing series one step below Formula 1.
“These tires are competitive and ready to race, so we wanted to show them to people now to make the point that we are ready to adapt ourselves to whichever regulations may be adopted in future, in a timely and proactive fashion,” said Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery.
“We're open to what the sport wants to do,” he added, noting that most of the nearly 300 championships Pirelli supplies already use 18-inch tires.