Pirelli unveils its 2026 tires with a cosmetic update

The Italian manufacturer presented its tires for the 2026 Formula 1 season on Tuesday, December 9. While the composition of the new tires had already been revealed, their aesthetics will bring a small change.

Published 09/12/2025 à 10:53

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Pirelli presents its 2026 tires with an aesthetic change

Before the first unveiling of the 2026 Formula 1 cars, Pirelli revealed its 2026 tires at the beginning of January. The manufacturer had already presented its range, which will include five compounds, from the C1, the hardest, to the C5, the softest. There are no plans to return to the C6, whose first year of testing did not exactly satisfy the drivers or Pirelli.

The tire dimensions will change in 2026: the rim diameter will remain 18 inches, but the tread width will decrease by 25 mm at the front and 30 mm at the rear. The overall diameter will also be reduced by 15 mm at the front and 10 mm at the rear.

In terms of performance, Pirelli has a clear objective: to create more gaps between each compound in order to encourage a diversity of racing strategies. The 2026 tires are being tested for the first time in their final version in Abu Dhabi this Tuesday as part of the post-season tests, two days after the championship victory. Lando Norris on the Yas Marina circuit. The teams are working all day with "mule" cars, before the first official pre-season tests in Barcelona from January 26 to 30.

The main change lies in the visual appearance of the tires. Pirelli is changing its historic design, in place since it became a tire manufacturer 14 years ago. The colored lines that identified the tires are being replaced by a checkered flag pattern. However, the color code will remain unchanged: white is assigned to hard tires, yellow to medium, red to soft, green to intermediate, and blue to all-weather tires.

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