F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Pirelli primer: which tyres for the Australian GP?

The main fact to know about Pirelli ahead of this weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix is that all teams will race in 2020 with the same tyres as last year, a first for the Italian company in F1.

Pirelli also brings to Melbourne the same compounds as in 2019: the hard C2, the medium C3 and the soft C4, a selection that worked very well last year at the fast Albert Park street circuit which is mainly about traction and braking.

"Tyre-wise, the drivers should be well-prepared for Melbourne, as they have exactly the same selection as last year, so there should be plenty of relevant data," explained Mario Isola, Pirelli's head of F1.

"Perhaps the only question mark concerns how these tyres perform on the 2020 cars, which have already proved to be a lot faster than their predecessors, but plenty of information about this was gathered at pre-season testing in Barcelona last month.

"In the recent past, Australia has been a one-stop race for most drivers, and for now there's no reason to think why it should be different this year, which marks the start to the end of an era: the final season of 13-inch tyres in Formula 1."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Perez reveals how he became Force India's unlikely saviour

Sergio Perez has revisited one of the most extraordinary off-track stories of his Formula 1…

10 hours ago

FIA expands straight-line mode at Spa – as Alonso sounds warning

Formula 1’s return to Spa-Francorchamps this weekend will introduce a striking new element to the…

12 hours ago

McLaren set for Mercedes engine upgrade at Spa and rear-wing trial

McLaren will arrive at the Belgian Grand Prix with a fresh opportunity to reset its…

13 hours ago

Michael bows to Mika on British GP podium

On this day in 2001 at the British GP at Silverstone, Formula 1 fans were…

15 hours ago

Bearman moved to tears after driving Senna’s iconic Lotus

The Silverstone pitlane has borne witness to countless moments of motorsport history, but recently, it…

15 hours ago

Steiner: Time for McLaren to ‘grow up’ and build its own engine

McLaren’s search for answers in Formula 1 has once again turned the spotlight onto its…

17 hours ago