– In the 2026 Formula 1 season, the Italian manufacturer Pirelli supplies the racing tires. These are standardized tires: each team receives identical material from Pirelli. The available tire compounds vary depending on the venue.
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The overview in this article shows which tire compounds are planned for each race weekend. Pirelli can choose from a pool of five different compounds – from C1 (very hard) through C2, C3, C4 to C5 (very soft).
Three compounds are nominated for use at each race weekend. They can be visually distinguished by their sidewall colors: the hardest compound (Hard) is marked with white, the medium compound (Medium) with yellow, and the softest compound (Soft) with red.
On a normal race weekend, each driver has two sets of the hard compound, three sets of mediums, and eight sets of soft tires available. On a sprint weekend, there are two sets of hard tires, four sets of mediums, and six soft sets.
During the race itself, at least two different compounds must be used. A driver can, for example, start on Medium and then switch to Hard or vice versa.
As a rule of thumb: the softest tire compound at a race weekend is the preferred choice for qualifying. Because the softest compound theoretically allows the best performance over a single lap.
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Here, Formula 1 supplier Pirelli is turning back the clock for the 2026 season: the C6 compound introduced in 2025 will no longer exist. Last year, this was an especially soft tire whose performance was even better for a short time than the C5 compound. It was used in Imola, Monaco, Canada, and Azerbaijan.
Where there are different tires than last year
That brings us to the first change for 2026: since the C6 tire no longer exists, the C5 is the softest compound in Montreal. And although Pirelli has chosen the softest possible option, it is a bit harder than last year: C3, C4, and C5 instead of C4, C5, and C6.
This can be seen in the graphic by the arrows, even if it seems strange at first that the arrow points left towards harder, although it is the softest level.
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The opposite happens in Barcelona: Pirelli nominated a compound one step softer. Instead of C1, C2, and C3, this year it is C2, C3, and C4, the medium compounds.
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