F1 Tire Rules: FIA has regulations for tires that can be used by drivers in Formula 1 Grand Prix races.
Pirelli are the official tire suppliers to the Formula 1. They currently provide three dry sets of tires – soft, medium and hard. Apart from this, for rainy conditions, intermediate and full wet tires are also supplied by the Italian manufacturers.
Drivers are expected to select 10 sets of a tires event. They need to choose it from a set of 13 dry, 4 intermediate, and 3 full wet tires. Colors are marked on the tires – red for soft, yellow for medium, white for hard, green for intermediate, and blue for full wet.
How are tires chosen for the race weekend?
- For the final race on Sunday, two sets each of the medium and hard tires are allotted for the final race. For the qualifying sessions, 1 set of soft are allotted to help drivers in setting quick lap times. This is significant as the starting grid of the final race depends on the lap times in qualifying sessions
- For the Free Practice sessions, drivers are allowed to use a maximum of 3 sets of dry tires. The sets in FP1 must be returned to Pirelli before FP2 and FP3 starts
- For drivers who qualify for the race in dry tires, they must start the race with the tires used in the second session of qualifying. This applies for the Top 10 drivers from the qualifying sessions. For drivers that qualify outside the Top 10, he can start the race on tires available to them – soft, medium or hard
What are wet weather tire rules?
- Drivers are required to use 2 different type of dry tires in the final race. This doesn’t apply, however, if intermediate or full wet tires are being used by the driver.
- For the qualifying session, full wet and intermediate tires can only be used if mandated by the Race Director. Also, if the final race is starting behind the safety car due to rain, then the driver must start with wet tires. Once rain subsides, the driver and team can decide to switch to a dry tire in the first pit stop.
