Pirelli: Development of the “Super-Intermediate” continues

– Not only the construction and the five slick compounds are the focus. Pirelli is working on defining the tires for the upcoming Formula 1 season. For several months, a topic has been discussed and investigated in Milan: a rain tire, which until now has been referred to as the “Super-Intermediate.”

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This is a proposal that was made some time ago. A single rain tire could adapt to several conditions and thereby possibly eliminate the problem of the transition between intermediates and full wet tires (“Full Wets”).

This transition is not easy because the rain tire works best for extreme wet conditions under difficult circumstances. Shortly before the start of the current season, Mario Isola, then director of Pirelli Motorsport, confirmed the intention to advance the development of the “Super-Intermediate.”

“We want to investigate it and continue to advance development. We introduced it in Formula 2, while we already used it in Formula 3 last year. It works very well in GT. These are all racing series where no intermediates are used,” said Isola.

“Therefore, we are looking at racing series that are already accustomed to using a rain tire and a slick. However, it is a more modern product than the current full wet profile,” the Italian explained at the time and announced: “We will continue to investigate it for Formula 1 in 2027.”

“A possible introduction will be decided after we have tested the actual conditions at a real rain race in 2026. Then it will become clear whether we will stick with small changes to intermediates and full wets or whether a unified profile could be a good idea.”

The current status of the “Super-Intermediate”

Five months after this interview, Dario Marrafuschi replaced Isola as director of Pirelli’s motorsport department. The Italian edition of Motorsport.com interviewed him exclusively on the topic of the “Super-Intermediate.”

Marrafuschi confirms there that the project around the tire is still in the development phase and has not been abandoned. However, it was not the best prerequisite for continuing tire tests that a rain test planned for Bahrain had to be canceled due to the conflict that has affected the Middle East for several months.

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“The Super-Intermediate is in development and is a project we are pursuing. We have not abandoned this path. We are always very open to technological developments and innovations and examine products that could bring improvements over the current state. So this remains a possible path,” said Marrafuschi.

“Unfortunately, we also lost an originally planned rain test. This was the test in Bahrain that could not take place. At the same time, we do not yet have feedback on the behavior of these vehicles with the current product under wet conditions,” he emphasized.

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“Therefore, development has inevitably been somewhat more delayed under these conditions than our original plans anticipated,” said Marrafuschi. For this reason, Pirelli plans to at least make up one test day on a wet track. This could take place in the summer.

“Currently, we are examining whether we can at least make up one test day in wet conditions, possibly in the summer. However, since we have not yet completed a rain race [2026], we are missing an important part of the information.”

“So we are still working on the Super-Intermediate. At this point, I cannot confirm that the Super-Intermediate will come in 2027. The previous delays and the absence of rain races are too significant for that.”

“In any case, these developments for wet conditions will of course be coordinated with the FIA and Formula 1 so that the technologically best available solution can be chosen,” said the director of Pirelli Motorsport.

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