London - Pirelli will host a meeting of Formula One's key stakeholders in Milan next week to discuss how the sport wants the tyres to perform in future.
Formula One is currently planning a rewriting of the rules from 2017 to improve the show with faster and more aggressive-looking cars.
Drivers have said repeatedly that they want tyres that let them race flat out from start to finish rather than the current quick-wearing ones that require careful management over a distance.
Pirelli said in a statement on Thursday that the meeting, to be held at the company's headquarters, would “discuss target tyre performance guidelines”.
“Pirelli sees this meeting as being of vital importance in order to further consolidate the close collaboration that got underway last year with the (governing) FIA, FOM (commercial rights holder), and the drivers,” it added.
Describing Formula One as its “biggest challenge”, the sport's sole supplier said the technical aspects would become ever more complex in 2017 and that would require more on-track testing.
“This is a factor that has been extremely limited in recent years, despite the important evolution of the cars and subsequent increase in performance,” the company said.
“All these are vital steps towards tyre development that takes into account the future evolution of the cars and added performance, which will be particularly notable in 2017.”
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone told the BBC that the drivers would also be welcome at the Feb. 2 meeting with Pirelli.
“Whatever drivers want to turn up can turn up,” he said. “Whatever teams want to turn up can turn up. It will be the president of Pirelli who is there, not a messenger.”
Reuters