New Pirelli compound to debut in Bahrain as first F1 2023 tyre selections confirmed
Pirelli hard tyre in focus alongside other compounds. Zandvoort September 2022.
Pirelli have announced their tyre selections for the first three races of the F1 2023 season, and the new C1 compound will be in use at the season opener in Bahrain.
Last year’s C1 will remain the hardest of the dry compounds of the Pirelli range, but will now be known as the C0 as the new C1 tyre – placed between last year’s C1 and C2 in terms of grip and durability levels – comes in, meaning Formula 1’s tyre manufacturer will have a selection of six dry compounds to choose from in 2023.
But the tyre manufacturers will continue to select three dry tyre compounds for use each race weekend this season, and the choices for the first three rounds of the 2023 campaign are as follows:
Bahrain: C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft)
Saudi Arabia: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft)
Australia: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft)
The arrival of the new C1 compound was confirmed by Pirelli at the end of last season, and they say its purpose is to “reduce the performance gap between what had previously been the two hardest compounds in the range”, as it slots between what was the C1 (now C0) and C2.
Among other tyre changes to come for the 2023 season is that the drivers will only have 11 fresh sets of dry tyres available to them over the course of a regular race weekend, down from 13 last year.
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Plans to remove tyre blankets from the sport altogether remain in place for the 2024 season, but plans to reduce tyre blanket temperature to 50°C were dropped over concerns surrounding warm-up, with a compromise found that blankets can be used to pre-heat the 2023 Pirelli rubber at the previous 70°C temperature this year, but at a reduced two-hour window to save energy as part of Formula 1’s sustainability goals.
At two races this season, a new qualifying format is also set to be trialled in which Q1 will see drivers only allowed to use nominated hard tyres, Q2 for medium tyres only and Q3 for soft tyres – though the locations for these trial races are yet to be confirmed.
