Pirelli will bring softer tires to Jeddah this year to enable more strategies – but the new C6 tire will not yet be used.
Pirelli wants to give the Formula 1 teams more strategic options at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and will therefore take softer tires to Jeddah this season. Shortly before the start of the season, the manufacturer announced the tire compounds for the races in Japan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The compounds for the first two races in Australia and China had already been determined – with no changes compared to the previous season. This also applies to the two races in Suzuka and Sachir, but at the fifth race of the season in Jeddah, Pirelli will deviate from its previous choice for the first time.
For the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Pirelli has nominated the compounds C3, C4 and C5, which is one step softer than last year. There, the race was a clear one-stop race, although most drivers had already come to the pit stop after seven laps following Lance Stroll’s accident.
“Based on our experience from last year and the information gathered during the development phase of the new compounds, we wanted to go in this direction in order to offer the teams and drivers a wider range of strategy options,” explains Pirelli’s Formula One Director Mario Isola.
“In 2024, 18 of the 20 drivers started on the medium tires, that is, the C3, and an early neutralization in the race prompted 14 of them to immediately switch to the C2, which was then the hard tire, and use it until the end.”
“With a softer tire compound, we believe that this could lead to a situation in which there could be a mix of one-stop and two-stop strategies,” said Isola.
Japan and Bahrain, on the other hand, are usually among the most demanding tracks for tires: the former due to the lateral forces acting on them in the numerous high-speed corners, and the latter due to the thermal degradation caused by the asphalt. Therefore, Pirelli will stick with the hardest compounds, C1, C2 and C3, at these circuits.
With Melbourne (C3, C4, C5) and Shanghai (C2, C3 and C4) following the same pattern as 2024, this means that the brand new C6 will not be used in this first part of the season.
