The 2025 Formula 1 competitive season may be over, but track activity is not: all 20 cars will be in action in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Each team will have one mule car driven by one or both race drivers, featuring Pirelli’s new range of rubber for the 2026 season, with slightly smaller and narrower tyres.

Even the tyres’ construction will be significantly different due to F1’s new technical regulations. When Pirelli asked all F1 teams to submit their predicted downforce levels for the end of 2026, there was much disparity between their simulations.

“It was more difficult for teams to estimate the performance of their 2026 cars at the end of the season,” Pirelli’s Mario Isola explained. “But we needed those simulations because we needed to design a product that is lasting for one year. I

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