IndyCar has announced multiple updates to rules regarding use of the official Firestone tires for the upcoming 2025 season.
Each entry will still be provided a total of 10 sets of tires for use throughout each street and road course event, but the number of primary and alternate tires has been adjusted for most events.
The allocation of softer, alternate tire compound tires has been increased from four to five sets per entry, while the allocation of the harder compound tires has been decreased from six to five.
The changes will give each driver a better opportunity to utilize the softer compound tires in the early part of the weekend, instead of saving them for qualifying and the race.
Events at The Thermal Club and the Indianapolis road course do not have the adjusted allocations applied, but all other street and road course events will see the additional alternate tires handed out to teams.
Both compounds of tire will still be required to be used during each race, leading to varying strategy decisions.
The series also confirmed that the season finale from Nashville Superspeedway will again see both compounds of tire used, although other oval events will still only have a single tire compound available.
Breathing room
In a related update to the rulebook, the successful experiment with splitting up the first practice session of the weekend into two groups will be expanded this season.
Street courses, on account of their short and tight layouts, have a tendency to produce traffic jams as 27 drivers attempt to make space to the car in front in order to find clean air.
Recently, IndyCar introduced short 10-minute sessions at the end of Practice 1 that only permitted half of the field to be on track at the same time. This allowed drivers to more easily practice a qualifying simulation without other cars being in the way.
That format is now going to be expanded to all road courses on the calendar except for Road America, which is long enough to not have as many problems with traffic.
The split sessions are meant to encourage more running in the early portion of the weekend, especially when combined with the extra set of alternate tires provided by Firestone.
The first test of the new tire rules comes just over a week from now, when the series tackles the streets of St. Petersburg to open the 2025 season.
