Mario Isola handing over Pirelli’s motorsport program to Dario Marrafuschi

Pirelli takes a lot of shit from the F1 world — mostly from fans — but I think it’s hard to argue that Isola did not do an incredible job making what are arguably the most important tires in the world. Given that tires are essentially the only strategic variable left in grand prix racing, Pirelli has delivered pretty consistently through some truly wild Formula 1 regulations, and now that the 2026 product has been delivered, it’s a new era, and it makes sense to hand over the reins to a guy who has been working there since 2008.

Yeah, they have some issues with wet-weather tires, but maybe now that the floor of an F1 car isn’t a gigantic water cannon, wets will be easier to get a handle on.