Formula 1 tests 18 inch wheel and tyre combo - Bye Bye 13 inch balloons?

When I was avidly following Formula 1 (F1) in the early 2000s I always wondered why the heck they keep using 13inch wheels with balloon-like tyres especially when road tyre technology has evolved into rubber band thin tyres running at least 18 inches those days (these days cars run even larger sizes). Then we also had the DTM and BTCC which ran 18 inch wheels and tyres. Also slimmer than the donuts used in F1. But now, F1 together with official tyre supplier Pirelli has decided to test the use of 18inch wheels on the cars. If all goes well, we may soon see F1 cars having more realistic looking rubber bands instead of the donuts used nowadays.

Of course, the test, using a Lotus F1 car is just the beginning and logistically speaking such a change will cost a bomb. One reason why is that in the current F1 cars the balloon-like tyres act as part of the car's suspension,  the load bearing and even the aerodynamics too. We're looking at a major redesign of the F1 car's suspension dynamics for all the teams involved. If this were implemented, we're looking at added costs for the teams, more wind tunnel testing, more dynamic suspension testing and more.

But I suppose it is time for F1 to enter the 21st century when it comes to tyre design and whilst it may look slightly strange to see an open wheel race cars with rubber band tyres but imagine the research that road cars could benefit from F1 cars using similar shaped tyres. Oh, it also reminds me of an Ariel Atom road racer, the Atom 500 especially.

So it isn't so funny looking in some ways eh? Or we'll just get used to it.