Pirelli will allocate all 22 drivers with identical compound selections for the opening five races of the season next year.
A new rule introduced at the beginning of the current season allows drivers to select their own tyre compounds for each race from a choice of three. Those selections must be made several weeks in advance to give tyre supplier Pirelli time to manufacture, prepare and ship those choices.
However with big changes to the tyres for 2017 and the deadline for choosing which compounds each driver will use for the opening five races expiring before the conclusion of pre-season testing – the first time the teams and drivers will get to test the new tyres – the FIA feels it only fair that Pirelli provides an identical selection for every driver.
"For the first five events of the 2017 Championship season only, the normal team selection procedure for tyres will not be used as the deadline occurs before pre-season testing.
"For these events the supplier will allocate two sets of the hardest compound specification, four sets of the medium compound specification and seven sets of the softest compound specification to each driver."
