Pirelli names three compounds for Bahrain, China

Pirelli has nominated the medium, soft and supersoft compounds for the 2016 races in Bahrain and China.

New tyre regulations see three compounds nominated by Pirelli for each race weekend, with the softest compound required to be used in Q3 and at least one of two compounds nominated by Pirelli mandatory for the race. As in Australia, the medium, soft and supersoft tyres have been selected.

As a result, one set of supersoft tyres must be used in the final part of qualifying, while Pirelli has nominated the medium and soft compounds as the race compounds, of which both must be available and at least one set must be used during the race.

Teams are therefore able to have free choice of 10 of their 13 compounds per race weekend, and will have to make their selections in over the coming weeks.

Selections for the Australian Grand Prix must be submitted today (December 17).

Mercedes: Ferrari not involved in data theft

Romain Grosjean exclusive: From Lotus to Haas

Use the red tabs on either side of the screen to scroll through more Formula One news and features

Click here for a gallery of the McLaren MP4-X

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

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

‘It’s time’: Schumacher delivers brutal Hamilton and Alonso verdict

Few figures in Formula 1 deliver uncomfortable opinions with quite as little hesitation as Ralf…

10 minutes ago

Norris keeping a close eye on Verstappen’s Nürburgring challenge

Reigning F1 world champion Lando Norris will be among the most intrigued observers this weekend…

2 hours ago

The very genesis of Formula 1 on this day in 1950

It all started on May 13, 1950 at Silverstone Circuit, where Alfa Romeo's Giuseppe Farina…

3 hours ago

Hulkenberg tells F1 critics: ‘If you don’t like it, don’t watch it’

As Formula 1’s controversial new era continues to divide opinion, Nico Hulkenberg has delivered the…

4 hours ago

No backing down: McLaren ‘definitely wants to defend’ its world title

Despite a rocky start to his team’s 2026 campaign in F1, Andrea Stella isn’t backing…

5 hours ago

Leclerc ‘not looking forward’ to beating Schumacher’s Ferrari record

For most Ferrari drivers, merely being mentioned in the same breath as the great Michael…

6 hours ago