07/03/2019
NEWS STORY
Pirelli has confirmed the tyre compounds to be used at the Spanish Grand Prix in May and the following month's Canadian Grand Prix.
Though, for the benefit of casual fans, the system has been simplified by doing away with the seven different colour banded tyres of 2018 - hypersoft, ultrasoft, supersoft, soft, medium, hard and superhard - in favour of soft (red), medium (yellow) and hard (white), it is remains somewhat complicated by the fact that there are still five compounds available.
As a result the compounds are now ranged C1 - C5, with C5 being the softest available and C1 the hardest.
As previously reported though the compound range has been reduced from seven to five, confusion continues, for under the 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.
Indeed, the compounds on offer for Spain - C1, C2 and C3, where the C3 is the softest tyre available, sees the same compound become the hardest available in Montreal a month later, where the C3, C4 and C5 are on offer.
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 |
| Spain | C3 | C2 | C1 |
| Canada | C5 | C4 | C3 |