The Race F1 Podcast Tech Show: What can teams learn by running 2026 tyres on mule cars?
Dec 12, 2025
Andrew Bayarji, Customer CTO at Atlassian and technical partner to Williams F1, shares insights on how modern tools like Jira and Confluence are transforming trackside operations at Williams. The discussion dives into the 2026 tyre tests on mule cars and their implications for performance and data analysis. They also explore the impact of lower downforce on tyre characteristics and the significance of technical partnerships in F1. Bayarji highlights the importance of breaking down silos to gain a competitive edge, emphasizing collaboration for efficiency.
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Mule Car Tyre Test Limits
- Running 2026 Pirelli tyres on 2025 'mule' cars gave Pirelli useful durability and structure data under lower downforce conditions.
- Gary Anderson warns this is a crude approximation because aero centre-of-pressure and load dynamics differ on real 2026 cars.
Simulation Correlation Bought By The Test
- Teams will use Abu Dhabi data to improve tyre-simulation correlation and virtual tyre models for simulators.
- Gary says that better correlation helps teams develop parts with more confidence going into 2026.
Simulation Tools Are Improving
- Ground-effect-era simulation tools improved but struggled to predict extreme underfloor behaviour reliably.
- Gary expects 2026 cars to be easier to simulate because characteristics will be less extreme than current ground-effect cars.