Pirelli make drastic Qatar GP change amid F1 tyre concerns

F1 drivers will be forced into at least two pit stops at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix after Pirelli imposed strict stint-length limits.

Drivers will only be allowed to complete 25 laps per tyre set during the Qatar weekend.

Pirelli say this measure has been “deemed necessary following analysis of the tyres used in 2024. 

Last year, several tyres, particularly the left front, had reached the maximum wear level.”

With the race in Qatar 57 laps long, all 20 drivers will have to complete the race on a two-stop strategy.

Pirelli will bring their three hardest compounds – C1, C2, and C3 – to the Losail International Circuit, which hosts the penultimate round of the 2025 F1 season.

It will likely see a repeat of the 2023 race, where Pirelli imposed similar rules.

The mandatory additional stops should mean drivers won’t have to manage their tyres throughout the race.

The change will also give the FIA another chance to see how forced two-stop strategies would work in F1, given that the idea was rumoured to be discussed for all races in 2026.

Explaining their decision, Pirelli said: “In Qatar, a limit will be introduced for the number of laps that each set of tyres can cover over the course of the whole race weekend. The decision, taken in agreement with the FIA and Formula 1 and discussed in regular meetings with the teams, is confirmed today by Pirelli through the usual technical document containing event-specific prescriptions sent out two weeks prior to each Grand Prix.

“These conditions, combined with the high lateral energy had increased the structural fatigue of the construction.

“In order to reduce the number of pit stops, the teams had worked on tyre degradation management, limiting performance drop-off, which sometimes ran the risk of extending the stint beyond the useful life of the tyre.

“A similar precautionary measure had already been introduced at this track in 2023, although that was for different problems which are now resolved. That year, repeatedly going over some kerbs had led to micro-lacerations in the tyres’ sidewalls.

“Last year, the subsequent modification to the pyramid kerbs along with the addition of strips of gravel around them, had avoided a repetition of this situation.”

Qatar could see Lando Norris crowned 2025 F1 world champion.

The British driver is 24 points ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas GP.