Tyres
The tyre colours, why drivers must change them, and how wear shapes a race.
Tyres are the only part of the car that touches the track, so they have a huge effect on speed. All teams use the same supplier, Pirelli.
The dry tyres
Pirelli makes five dry tyres, from the hardest (C1) to the softest (C5). For each race weekend it picks three of them and labels them for fans:
| Label | Colour | What it's like |
|---|---|---|
| Soft | 🔴 Red | Fastest, but wears out quickly |
| Medium | 🟡 Yellow | The balance between speed and life |
| Hard | ⚪ White | Slowest, but lasts the longest |
So the "soft" at one circuit can be a different tyre from the "soft" at another. The colours always mean fastest to longest-lasting for that weekend.
Wet-weather tyres
| Tyre | Colour | When |
|---|---|---|
| Intermediate | 🟢 Green | A damp track or light rain |
| Full wet | 🔵 Blue | Heavy rain |
The rule that forces pit stops
In a dry race each driver must use at least two different types of dry tyre. That is why you usually see pit stops. Sprints are short, so there is no compulsory stop.
Wear and warm-up
Tyres need to be at the right temperature to grip. As they wear, lap times get slower. That wear is called degradation, and it is a big part of race strategy.
On our live page each driver's current tyre is shown with a coloured badge (S, M, H, I or W), plus how many pit stops they've made.