F1 tire guidelines for the 2025 season, defined

The 2025 Components 1 season is now simply weeks away.

Tomorrow the season will unofficially start in a first-of-its-kind occasion, the season launch at The O2 in London. To honor the game’s seventy fifth anniversary the groups are coming collectively to unveil their liveries for the upcoming season, with all twenty drivers in addition to every workforce principal anticipated to be in attendance. Among the many many storylines for this occasion? The true public debut of Lewis Hamilton as a driver for Ferrari.

Then subsequent week all ten groups can be in motion for pre-season testing in Bahrain, on the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit.

Forward of the 2025 season — and with some modifications to debate — this can be a good time to speak tires.

Who provides tires for F1?

Since 2011, Italian producer Pirelli has been the unique tire provider for F1. The corporate has been related to the game since its inception, as Pirelli was considered one of 4 tire producers who equipped tires again in 1950, the game’s inaugural season.

In October of 2023, the corporate signed a brand new take care of F1 to stay the game’s unique tire provider via the 2027 season, with an possibility to increase the deal for a further yr.

Over the previous 14 seasons, Pirelli has aided F1 as the game labored via varied modifications to each the Technical Laws in addition to the Sporting Laws, together with the return to the bottom impact automobiles for the 2022 season. The present contract extension additionally implies that Pirelli would be the unique tire provider for the following wave of technical modifications, that go into impact for the 2026 F1 season.

What sorts of tires can be found?

Usually talking, there are two sorts of tires out there: The slicks, and the wet-weather tires. As we’ll see in a second there are totally different compounds out there for each slick and wet-weather tires.

The slick tires don’t have any tread on them and are the principle tires used throughout follow, qualifying, and racing, and the various compounds have totally different ranges of grip out there to the drivers. Groups will solely flip to one of many two kinds of wet-weather tires when circumstances are such that the quantity of water current on the monitor makes working on slick tires too tough.

What slick compounds can be found for 2025?

This season Pirelli has six slick compounds out there, starting from hardest to softest: The C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, and C6 compounds.

The C6 is an ultra-soft compound that Pirelli is introducing this season, anticipated for use on avenue circuits.

As a rule of thumb the softer the compound the upper the grip degree, however the decrease the sturdiness. Conversely the tougher the compound is, the much less grip the drivers could have, however they may be capable to keep out on the monitor for longer runs.

Every race weekend Pirelli will designate three compounds to be used: The “onerous,” the “medium,” and the “smooth,” primarily based on the traits of the given circuit. This might imply that one week a compound is designated because the onerous, however then because of the traits of the circuit the following week that very same compound is out of the blue the medium.

As soon as these designations are made, the tires for a given race weekend are given a colour designation on the skin to assist followers establish what compound every driver is utilizing. Exhausting tires are given a white band, medium tires a yellow band, and the smooth tires are given a crimson band. On this under picture you possibly can see Pirelli engineers engaged on a set of medium tires:

Picture by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto through Getty Photographs

As a consequence of their grip ranges, smooth tires are typically used throughout qualifying, or for brief stints throughout races. Mediums and hards are sometimes favored on Sundays, though as we’ll see in a second there’s some technique to contemplate, so that you may see a workforce bolt on a set of softs at first of the race to attempt to decide up monitor place, or within the closing levels to attempt to make up time.

The 2025 F1 season begins with the Australian Grand Prix, and ultimately yr’s race, Pirelli designated the three softest compounds of their vary — the C3, C4, and C5 — because the three decisions for the week. The C3 was the onerous compound, the C4 stood because the medium, and the C5 was the smooth.

Pirelli has but to establish the three compounds that can be used at this yr’s Australian Grand Prix, however with the introduction of the C6 for this season, there’s a probability we see the ultra-soft immediately.

What climate compounds can be found for 2025?

As with earlier seasons, there are two wet-weather tires out there for groups.

The primary is the “intermediate,” which is used throughout damp circumstances when there is no such thing as a standing water on the monitor. The tread on this tire permits for a single tire to displace 35 to 40 litres of water per second, when the automotive is touring round 300 kilometers per hour, in keeping with Pirelli. This nearly implies that an F1 automotive outfitted with 4 intermediate tires can displace 150 liters of water per second at that pace. These tires are designated with a inexperienced band on the facet.

Then there are the complete “moist” tires, used when there’s standing water on the monitor and/or throughout heavy rain. Pirelli notes that the complete moist tires can displace double the quantity of water their intermediate counterparts displace, given the depth of the treads.

What number of tires does every driver get for a race weekend?

The tire allotment depends upon whether or not the race in query is a typical Grand Prix, of an F1 Dash Race weekend.

For normal Grand Prix weekends, drivers are given an allotment of 13 units of dry climate tires, 4 units of intermediates, and three units of the complete moist tires. The slick tires are damaged down as follows: two units of hards, three units of mediums, and eight units of softs.

Drivers are additionally required to return two units of tires to Pirelli following every of the three follow classes, leaving seven units for qualifying and the race itself.

On F1 Dash Race weekends, the allocation of tires drops from 13 units to 12. Drivers obtain two units of the hards, 4 of the mediums, and 6 of the softs. The full variety of wet-weather units stays the identical however turns into 5 intermediate and two moist units.

Additionally on F1 Dash Race weekends, drivers are required to make use of the medium compound throughout each SQ1 and SQ2, and may solely have the softs bolted on for SQ3, ought to they advance to the ultimate section of qualifying.

What different guidelines ought to followers learn about tire utilization?

The ultimate factor to learn about tire utilization in F1 is that this: If a race has been deemed “dry” by race officers, then drivers have to make use of two totally different compounds throughout the race. For instance, drivers that start a given race on a set of mediums need to make no less than one pit cease to modify to softs or hards. Or, if a driver begins on a set of hards and places in an extended stint to begin the race, they might want to cease no less than as soon as to modify to both mediums or softs.

Upon getting used two totally different compounds, you have got happy this rule requirement. For instance, Carlos Sainz Jr., who gained the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, began with a set of medium tires, pitted on Lap 16 to modify to hards, and pitted once more on Lap 42 for an additional set of hards.

One other instance is George Russell, who gained the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix after a conflict between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in entrance of him opened the door for the Mercedes driver to storm to the entrance. Russell started that race on a set of mediums, pitted on Lap 22 for an additional set of mediums, and made the change to the hards when he got here into the pits on Lap 46.

This rule doesn’t come into play if race officers designate a race as “moist” attributable to climate circumstances. Meaning in wet climate groups could run your complete race on the identical set of tires. Nonetheless, tire put on may necessitate a pit cease for recent rubber.