Pirelli confirm tyre choices for entire 23-round 2021 F1 season
Pirelli has outlined its tyre compound choices for the entire 23-round 2021 Formula 1 season.
In previous years Pirelli has tended to decide and reveal its tyre choices a few weeks before each race, but for 2021 it has confirmed its full range of selections for the season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
On the whole, the choices are similar to the ones Pirelli made for the 2020 season, with the Italian tyre manufacturer bringing a Soft, Medium and Hard named tyre to every race, though the compounds differ.
The biggest changes see Pirelli opt for its softest selection of all for the returning Azerbaijan Grand Prix - where the C3, C4 and C5 compound will be used - and by bringing the C2, C3 and C4 to this year’s Sao Paulo GP at Interlagos.
Pirelli’s head of F1 and car racing Mario Isola said: “Announcing all the selections for the year right now will help the teams and the drivers with their planning, also allowing for maximum flexibility just in case the calendar has to change due to Covid-19 restrictions, as we saw last year.
"The selections themselves are on the whole similar to last year (or 2019, in the case of races not run in 2020), which means that teams should have plenty of data to fall back on - but we have two races where the nominations are softer.
"The first is Azerbaijan, where our C2 hard tyre wasn't used last time, so we are now going with the softest selection of all: C3, C4 and C5.
"Then we have Brazil, where we will take the C2, C3 and C4 this year, as the C1 that was selected as the hardest choice last time didn't show a particularly big advantage in terms of wear over the medium.
"In both cases, the softer nomination could lead to a greater variety of race strategies”.
Pirelli’s nominations include Portugal, which is expected to stage the third round of the season despite not yet officially being confirmed on the calendar by F1.
The C1, C2 and C3 compounds will be used at the Algarve circuit in Portimao, as well as for the revised Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in September.
As well as Baku, races in Monaco, Canada, Russia, Singapore and Abu Dhabi will also utilise Pirelli’s softest possible selections, while the C2, C3 and C4 compounds will be used at the remaining 12 races, including the inaugural Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah.
Pirelli's full choices can be seen below.
The full #Fit4F1 compound selection for #F1 2021, from #BahrainGP to #AbuDhabiGP!https://t.co/uGjNtOtKau pic.twitter.com/HhDW7ZXiJl
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) February 19, 2021
