Pirelli to bring softer tires to Saudi Arabia

The 2025 season of Formula 1 is fast approaching, with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne set to kick off on March 16. Pirelli has announced its tyre selection for the first five rounds of the year. The Australian, Chinese, Japanese and Bahrain Grand Prix will feature the same compounds as last year. However, the first real change from 2024 will be in Jeddah (April 18-20).

In Saudi Arabia, F1's sole manufacturer has decided to bring a trio of softer compounds than in 2024. Last year, teams had the C2 (hard), C3 (medium) and C4 (soft). This year, they will have access to the C3 (hard), C4 (medium) and C5 (soft).

« Based on our experience from last year and the information gathered during the development of the new compounds, we wanted to move in this direction in order to offer teams and drivers a wider range of strategic options. ", explained Mario Isola, Pirelli's motorsport director. In 2024, 18 of the 20 drivers started on Medium, which was the C3, and an early neutralisation in the race led 14 of them to immediately switch to C2, which was then the Hard, and to keep it until the finish. With a softer trio, we think this could lead to a situation where there could be a mix between one-stop and two-stop strategies. »

The new C6 rubber not yet selected

This year, the Jeddah Grand Prix will be held on the third weekend of April, while the four previous editions were held either in December (for the first edition in 2021) or in March.

Suzuka and Sakhir, meanwhile, remain among the most demanding circuits for tyres: Suzuka because of the lateral forces exerted in its many fast corners characteristic of this figure-of-eight circuit and Sakhir because of the thermal degradation caused by the asphalt. It is therefore logical that Pirelli keeps the three hardest compounds in its range for these two races (C1 for Hard, C2 for Medium and C3 for Soft).

Melbourne (C3, C4, C5) and Shanghai (C2, C3, C4) following the same pattern as in 2024, this means that only the all-new C6 range will not be used in these first races of the season.

The tires chosen by Pirelli for the first five Grands Prix of 2025:

AUTOhebdo's F1 2025 Guide, still available!