An agreement has been reached for Pirelli to get two six-day tests over the course of this year, which will allow it to produce new specification rubber for next season when F1 is set to deliver faster cars.

But teams have not yet been able to agree on just how this testing should be conducted, because the current rules outlaw the use of recent cars that would potentially be suitable for the development work.

However, it is understood that a framework idea of having a V8-powered car has approval, albeit the issue now is trying to secure a chassis that will produce the downforce levels that are expected to arrive in 2017.

When asked by Motorsport.com what progress had been made in finding a car, Pirelli's F1 racing manager Mario Isola said: "This is a discussion that is currently ongoing, so hopefully soon. Because it is not easy to prepare a tyre in a short time frame."

Thermal degradation

Pirelli held talks with F1 drivers and teams earlier this year to understand better what type of tyres they would like to see produced.

On the back of those discussions, some outline ideas have been produced that Pirelli wants to work on for 2017.

"We had a lot of meetings, we are happy to develop and produce the tyres that the drivers and teams want, so we will follow this direction," said Isola, who says a move away from the thermal degradation characteristic was on the cards.

"As we always say, we want to produce the tyres they want – so if they want to produce a tyre that is more consistent, we will focus our development on this. Or less degradation? Or less overheating [thermal degradation]?

"There was a lot of talk about overheating. So, okay, we will work to reduce overheating. As soon as we fix the target, we will work in this direction."