F1 tire guidelines for the 2025 season, defined

The 2025 System 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 staff 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 will probably 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 — it is 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 one in all 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 an extra 12 months.

Over the previous 14 seasons, Pirelli has aided F1 as the game labored via numerous modifications to each the Technical Rules in addition to the Sporting Rules, 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?

Typically talking, there are two sorts of tires accessible: The slicks, and the wet-weather tires. As we are going to see in a second there are completely different compounds accessible 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 completely different ranges of grip accessible to the drivers. Groups will solely flip to one of many two kinds of wet-weather tires when situations are such that the quantity of water current on the monitor makes operating on slick tires too troublesome.

What slick compounds can be found for 2025?

This season Pirelli has six slick compounds accessible, 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 may have, however they’ll have the ability to keep out on the monitor for longer runs.

Every race weekend Pirelli will designate three compounds to be used: The “exhausting,” 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 exhausting, however then as a result of traits of the circuit the following week that very same compound is immediately the medium.

As soon as these designations are made, the tires for a given race weekend are given a coloration designation on the skin to assist followers establish what compound every driver is utilizing. Laborious tires are given a white band, medium tires a yellow band, and the smooth tires are given a purple band. On this beneath picture you may 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 usually favored on Sundays, though as we are going to see in a second there may be some technique to contemplate, so that you may see a staff bolt on a set of softs in the beginning of the race to attempt to choose up monitor place, or within the closing phases to attempt to make up time.

The 2025 F1 season begins with the Australian Grand Prix, and finally 12 months’s race, Pirelli designated the three softest compounds of their vary — the C3, C4, and C5 — because the three selections for the week. The C3 was the exhausting compound, the C4 stood because the medium, and the C5 was the smooth.

Pirelli has but to establish the three compounds that will probably be used at this 12 months’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 accessible for groups.

The primary is the “intermediate,” which is used throughout damp situations 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, based on Pirelli. This virtually implies that an F1 automotive geared up 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 aspect.

Then there are the total “moist” tires, used when there may be standing water on the monitor and/or throughout heavy rain. Pirelli notes that the total 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 is determined by whether or not the race in query is a normal 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 total 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 find out about tire utilization?

The ultimate factor to find out 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 completely different compounds throughout the race. For instance, drivers that start a given race on a set of mediums should make no less than one pit cease to change to softs or hards. Or, if a driver begins on a set of hards and places in an extended stint to start out the race, they might want to cease no less than as soon as to change to both mediums or softs.

Upon getting used two completely different compounds, you could have glad 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 change to hards, and pitted once more on Lap 42 for one more 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 one more set of mediums, and made the swap 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” on account of climate situations. Meaning in wet climate groups could run all the race on the identical set of tires. Nonetheless, tire put on may necessitate a pit cease for contemporary rubber.