Why did Ken Block never make it to F1? Former Pirelli Motorsport director reveals reasons

Former Pirelli Motorsport director Paul Hembery recently revealed why Ken Block was unable to drive an F1 car. After the tragic death of the legendary rally driver, Hembery shared the entire story of how Block was extremely close to driving an F1 car with Toyota.

Back in 2011, Pirelli returned to the sport as a tire manufacturer. Since Paul Hembery had a strong connection with Block at the time, the motorsport director managed to slot the rally driver into Toyota's TF109 F1 car test at Monza. This was announced during the 2011 F1 Canadian GP, where Block spoke about the opportunity. The rally driver said:

"I never imagined that something like this would even be available. But Pirelli saw the idea of doing something unique and different with me. They have been a great partner with me for everything I have been doing, so it is just something that for me is a dream come true. I have so little experience in open-wheel asphalt, so it will be a huge learning experience for me."

A few weeks later, Ken Block also visited Toyota's headquarters to try out the simulator and for a seat fitting. Unfortunately, the team was unable to make modifications to the seat and the car due to Block's physique, particularly due to his long legs. Though Toyota planned to make the modification, they failed due to the time crunch.

This was explained by Paul Hembery, who also mentioned how Toyota was already out of the sport by the end of 2009, making it harder for them to commit to the test. The Pirelli Motorsport director shared how Block was extremely saddened to lose the opportunity to drive an F1 car. Hembery said:

"The level of modifications were going to be just too great. Bear in mind at that time, Toyota were essentially winding down [It had quit F1 at the end of 2009]. They didn't have the strengths they had before. So the ability for us to make such changes was too limited. In the end, we couldn't make it happen, sadly. I know how disappointed Ken was, because he was a thrill-seeker. The opportunity to do something like this was once in a lifetime, and that sadly didn't come to happen."

---

F1's new regulations supported by Pirelli based on statistics

In 2022, the sport introduced brand new regulations that completely changed how the cars looked and raced with each other. Along with all the teams appreciating the changes and the results from it, Pirelli also mentioned how great it is for the sport.

Speaking about the new regulations and the increase in overtakes, Pirelli director Mario Isola said:

"Unfortunately it is difficult to have a statistic where if they overtake each other two or three times in a lap, like I don't know Jeddah or some other races. But then on the main straight, they are in the same position, you don't get this because it's too difficult. It's just real overtaking. I believe it's a very good number, 30% more, considering that is informed by the facts, so it's not exaggerated. It's quite a good point."

In 2021, Pirelli reported that there were a total of 599 overtakes, whereas, in 2022, they recorded 785 of them. This clearly shows how the new regulations have improved racing in the sport.