Formula 1 drivers have overwhelmingly loaded up on Soft tyres for next weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Pirelli has tweaked its naming system for 2019, dropping the ‘rainbow range’, and instead bringing a Hard, Medium and Soft nomination to each event.
These are selected from a reduced range of five compounds, named C1 to C5, which increase in wear, grip and softness.
For the opening event of the campaign the C2 is Hard, the C3 is Medium and the C4 is Soft.
The regulations regarding sets of tyres are the same as in 2018, with drivers permitted free choice of compounds for 10 of their allocated 13 sets for the weekend.
One set of Soft tyres must be set aside for use only in Q3 while either the Medium or Hard tyres must be run for one stint of the Grand Prix, assuming dry conditions prevail.
For Melbourne 14 of the 20 drivers have opted for nine sets of Soft tyres; the exceptions are the Racing Point and Williams drivers (with eight) and the Renault drivers (with 10).
The Hard tyre has been largely rejected, with 12 of the drivers taking just the set that has been allocated to them by Pirelli.
Pirelli, Formula 1’s sole tyre supplier since 2011, will remain in its current position until at least 2023.
