Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli has accepted the call to action after a thoroughly underwhelming Japanese Grand Prix.
The last two GPs in China and Japan were dominated by one-stop strategies, and the latter made an unwelcome F1 first.
A newly resurfaced Suzuka drastically reduced trye degradation, and this made for, frankly, a boring spectacle as for the first time in F1 history, the top six finished where they started.
Post-race in Japan, this prompted George Russell to call out Pirelli, saying, “I think these last two weekends, I think the tyre compounds have just been too hard for resurfacing, and it’s been an easy one-stop both races, and that’s just really taken any fun from the strategy.
“Yeah, I hope we can maybe react as a sport, because it’s, as I said, we all finished where we started, and there just wasn’t enough difference in the tyre degradation,” he added.
On that note, Pirelli informed all 10 F1 teams on Wednesday that the Miami and Emilia Romagna GPs will have a tyre allocation one step softer than last season.
This follows confirmation that this year’s Saudi Arabian GP will also be a step softer than last year, with all three of these races one-stop affairs in 2024.
Miami will use the C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium and C5 as soft, with Emilia Romagna one click softer, introducing the brand new C6 into a GP weekend for the very first time.
“We are well aware that teams and drivers have become very adept at managing and looking after their tyres to get the best possible race result, and that the drivers always want to push to the limit to experience the thrills that only a Formula 1 car can offer,” Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola said.
“We had further confirmation of this last Sunday in Suzuka, where, even in a race that wasn’t particularly exciting in terms of on-track action, everyone said they were pleased to be able to continually get their lap times down right to the end of each stint.
“However, we must balance this with the shared desire among all key stakeholders in our sport to create the conditions for unpredictable and spectacular races.
“Tyres and their behaviour are an important part of that picture and as a partner of Formula 1, we want to be proactive in this regard.”
All six Pirelli F1 compounds will be tried and tested by Round 7
Isola added that it was Pirelli’s intention to roll out the entire new range of tyre compounds in the early stages of the season, in order to inform decision making for the remainder of the campaign.
“When we began planning the production and shipment of tyres for the first few races, we aimed to run all the compounds in the new range during the early part of the season, as they feature circuits with very different characteristics,” explained Isola.
“This would help us gather as much useful data as possible as quickly as possible to inform our selections for the second half of the year.
“For 2025, we have a wider range of options compared to last year: there is more effective spacing between the various compounds in terms of performance and, overall, they seem to be less prone to both tread surface overheating and graining.
“This also allows us to experiment with new solutions, making choices that can lead to a variety of valid strategies, both in terms of tyre usage and number of pit stops.”
This weekend’s Bahrain GP, with an abrasive Skahir surface a big player in decision making, will see the hardest range, C1, C2 and C3 in action.
READ MORE – Pirelli to bring softer tyre selection to 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP
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