Pirelli confirms the six compounds homologated for the 2023 F1 season wile revealing the tyres for the first three races.
As was noted last year itself, Pirelli has confirmed the six compounds homologated for the 2023 F1 season where 2022’s C1 has become C0 in the lot, while 2023’s C1 is a new-for compound which bridges the gap that was seen last year between tyres.
Considering the performance gap between C1 and C2, teams opted not to use the former as much and so Pirelli decided to introduce a new compound which could reduce the gap and give the teams and drivers more options during the course of the year.
The rest of the compounds remains largely the same but the production will see changes for the front tyre especially to counter the understeer problem. The testing programme went well in 2022 and the drivers seems to be happy with the new tyres.
Here’s how the tyres stack up as per Pirelli –
COMPOUND 0: Last year’s C1 tyre has become the C0 for 2023. This is the hardest tyre in the range, which will be nominated for the circuits that take the most energy out of the tyres. It’s designed to provide maximum resistance to heat and extreme forces, being capable of running very long stints, but this comes at the expense of peak performance.
COMPOUND 1: This new-for-2023 compound slots in between last year’s C1 and C2. Based on the latter, it was created to reduce the performance gap between what had previously been the two hardest compounds in the range.
COMPOUND 2: The third-hardest compound remains very suited to the faster, hotter and more abrasive circuits. The harder compounds are sometimes nominated for new circuits, providing a conservative selection so that tyre loads can be verified in real-world race conditions for the first time.
COMPOUND 3: This compound is extremely versatile and can be used as either the hardest, the middle or the softest of any three-compound selection. With an excellent balance between performance and durability, this is well-suited to a wide range of conditions.
COMPOUND 4: This compound is designated to work well on low-severity circuits, where quite a quick warm up is required in order to reach peak performance as soon as possible. This tyre is used extensively throughout the season.
COMPOUND 5: These are very softest tyres in the range, designed for the slowest circuits with low wear and degradation where maximum mechanical grip is required from the rubber. These are normally seen at street circuits or where the asphalt is exceptionally smooth.
Looking to the tyre selection for the first three F1 races, Pirelli is actually to use the new-for C1 compound in the 2023 season-opener itself along with C2 and C3. For both Saudi Arabia and Australia, they have gone for C2, C3 and C4 respectively.
Here’s the selection in list form –
Bahrain: C1, C2, C3
Saudi Arabia: C2, C3, C4
Australia: C2, C3, C4
F1 2023 launches: