For the ninth consecutive year Pirelli are again the official tyre suppliers for F1, as in previous years the tyre range has been tweeked and updated for the year ahead. So what can we expect from this years new range of tyres?
First and foremost the Italian tyre manufacturer have reduced their tyre range from seven compounds to five for this year. The three chosen compounds for each race will be named as hard, medium and soft and coloured white, yellow and red, white for the hardest compound, yellow for medium, and red for the softest.
The five compounds will be numbered from C1 - C5 hardest to the softest with C1 the hardest and C5 the softest.
Only three compound will be used at each race which Pirelli will announce to the teams and the media in advance advising of of which compounds correspond to the hard, medium and soft tyres.
Some unmarked tyres will be seen during testing in Barcelona; these prototype tyres will be used during tests only to assess potential use for the future.
This year the maximum temperature of the tyre blankets at the rear will be reduced to 80 degrees centigrade, while the front tyre blanket temperature will remain at the current 100 degrees centigrade. Pirelli says this will help front tyre warm-up, and also reduce the risk of graining: especially in low ambient temperatures. As a result, the starting pressures of the rear tyres have been reduced accordingly.
Lat year we saw Pirelli supply a thinner tread at selected races where the asphalt was newer which succeeded in preventing overheating, and as a result, a similar tread reduction has been adopted for all the tyres this year.
Pirelli has also introduced completely new intermediate and wet tyres for this year, the Cinturato Green and Blue tyre.
The intermediate is designed to cover a wider range of conditions than its predecessor, meaning a more effective crossover point with both the slick and the full wet tyres. The full wet tyre is also entirely new, with a redesigned profile that offers greater resistance to aquaplaning and better driveability in heavy rain.
