Find out which tire compounds Formula One supplier Pirelli will provide for each Grand Prix in the 2025 season and what is different from 2024
In the 2025 Formula One season, the Italian manufacturer Pirelli will supply the racing tires. These are standard tires: each team receives identical material from Pirelli. The available tire compounds vary depending on the venue.
The overview in this article shows which tire compounds are planned for the respective race weekends. Pirelli can choose from a pool of six different compounds – from C1 (very hard) to C2, C3, C4, C5 and C6 (very soft).
Three of these compounds are nominated for use during a race weekend. They can be visually distinguished by the color of their sidewalls: the hardest compound (Hard) is marked in white, the medium compound (Medium) in yellow and the softest compound (Soft) in red.
The drivers decide for themselves how many sets of tires they order from Pirelli for a race weekend and which compound they require. However, they must ensure that they meet the respective requirements of the Formula One rules: two different compounds must be used in the race. A driver can therefore start with mediums and then switch to hards, or vice versa.
As a rule of thumb, the softest tire compound used during a race weekend is the preferred choice for qualifying. This is because the softest compound theoretically provides the best performance on a single lap.
For the 2025 season, Formula One supplier Pirelli is introducing an innovation here: for the first time, there is a C6 tire compound, i.e. an extra-soft tire that performs even better for a short period of time than the existing C5 compound.
Some race weekends will also see changes compared to last year: for example, at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, Pirelli has decided to make its tire allocation one level softer. Specifically, this means that in 2024 the compounds C2, C3 and C4 were used in Saudi Arabia, while in 2025 it will be C3, C4 and C5. This change is indicated by arrows in the overview.
