Almost 25,000 tires, extreme temperatures, and a stint for the history books: Pirelli’s season figures reveal the hidden side of Formula 1
Formula 1 tire supplier Pirelli has published impressive figures for the 2025 season at the end of the year. The manufacturer from Milan, Italy, supplied a total of 24,480 tires to the ten teams for the race weekends alone. These covered 341,099 kilometers—a distance that would be enough to circle the earth eight and a half times.
The most frequently used tires were slick tires, which accounted for 96 percent of the total distance covered. However, the different compounds were used to varying degrees: the medium compound C3, for example, had the highest mileage with 93,493 kilometers, while the hardest compound C1 had the lowest with 17,368 kilometers.
The best individual performance on a set of tires was achieved by Haas driver Esteban Ocon at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah: After his pit stop on lap one, Ocon completed the remaining 49 laps of the race on the C3 compound, covering 303 kilometers in one go – the maximum possible under the current Formula 1 tire regulations.
Pirelli also measured the highest asphalt temperatures of the year in Jeddah: 58.2 degrees Celsius in the second free practice session. This contrasts with the coolest conditions of the 2025 season, which were in Las Vegas: in the rainy qualifying session, the track temperature was just 12 degrees.
Pirelli as Formula 1 tire supplier – historical overview
Pirelli has been the sole tire supplier to Formula 1 since 2011. The Italian company succeeded its Japanese competitor Bridgestone, which had supplied the standard tires for the “premier class” of motorsport from 2007 to 2010.
Every race weekend, Pirelli offers Formula 1 teams three different compounds for dry conditions: Soft (marked red), Medium (yellow), and Hard (white), which were selected in 2025 from a pool of six compounds (C6 to C1) specific to each track. In addition, there are “light” rain tires for wet conditions (“intermediates,” green) and rain tires (blue).
Pirelli was already involved as a supplier in 1950, the first World Championship season in Formula 1 history, and dominated the early years of the World Championship with numerous victories. From 1959 to 1980, the company took a break from Formula 1, only to make a comeback in 1981 and remain active until 1991. This was followed by another break until 2011.
