Pirelli has confirmed the tyre compounds to be used at the opening four rounds of the 2019 F1 season.

While the system has been somewhat simplified by doing away with the seven different colour banded tyres - hypersoft, ultrasoft, supersoft, soft, medium, hard and superhard - in favour of soft (red), medium (yellow) and hard (white), the system is somewhat complicated again by the fact that there are still five compounds available.

As result the compounds are ranged C1 - C5, with C5 being the softest available.

Even though the compound range has been reduced from seven to five, confusion continues, for under the new/revised system of hard, medium and soft, fans (and commentators) now have to deal with the fact - as shown below - that what is the hardest tyre in Australia, China and Azerbaijan, will be the medium in Bahrain, a situation that will become even more confusing once Pirelli starts missing a step in its tyre choices.

Furthermore, reducing the range from seven to five will make comparisons with the 2018 choice difficult, these already being a step softer than their 2017 counterparts, which in fact featured a range of five compounds.

As before, each driver must save one set of the softest of the three nominated compounds for Q3 and this set will then be returned for those who qualify in the top 10, but the remaining drivers will keep it for the race.

Each driver must have both race sets available for the grand prix.

The teams are free to choose the remaining 10 sets, making 13 sets in total for the weekend.

Selections for long-haul events have to be made 14 weeks in advance; for European races the deadline is 8 weeks in advance.

Confirmed Tyre Compounds

Grand Prix	Soft	Medium	Hard
Australia	C4	C3	C2
Bahrain	C3	C2	C1
China	C4	C3	C2
Azerbaijan	C4	C3	C2

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Editor, 12/12/2018 14:41

"Hi all

Only after seeing neven.s' post that I realised some glitch was showing the compounds wrong.

We'd entered them correctly - just like neven.s' post below but they were showing something entirely different.

Apologies."

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2. Posted by neven.s, 12/12/2018 13:40

"It should be:
Australia C4, C3, C2
Bahrain C3, C2, C1
China C4, C3, C2
Azerbaijan C4, C3, C2"

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3. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 11/12/2018 9:34

"Typical, why make something simple when you can F1 it. "

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4. Posted by 79-626inHI, 11/12/2018 3:29

"Is there a misprint? For all four races, the 'medium' and 'soft' are the came 'C' number (C3 and C3, or C2 and C2). It makes no sense. Please clarify. Thank you."

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5. Posted by NS Biker, 11/12/2018 2:42

"Lapps, no you're not being thick. That honor goes to another.
Checking the same news item on another site has somewhat similar information, but different and even more confusing as it shows the corresponding 2018 compound descriptions. Naturally these are not consistent with the C1, 2, 3 designations nor are they consistent from race to race.
Someone keeps shooting Pirelli in the foot it seems.
Expect something in the form of an update from the supplier of the Black Donuts.m"

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6. Posted by ClarkwasGod, 10/12/2018 19:54

"This is going to become as confusing, and as unnecessarily complicated as World Superbikes (also, coincidentally Pirelli), where, at the start of races, commentators are referring to compounds types, such as G13 or F69 ( I made both up) which mean absolutely NOTHING to 99% of viewers, enthusiasts or not. I still cannot see what was wrong with the names given to the tyres until now - So Brundle will be saying something like " Vettel is now on the medium compound - of course last race, this was the soft compound" Utter nonsense - yet again F1 has to fix something that wasn't really broken."

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7. Posted by Lapps, 10/12/2018 15:43

"Am I being thick?
It looks like the Medium and Hard compounds are the same compound. How can this be?
Is the tyre carcass/ construction different to justify the different grading?
Most confusing. (Unless I am just being thick)."

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Pirelli confirms compounds for opening four races

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