Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli has confirmed its tyre compound choices for Grands Prix in Spain and Canada.
Pirelli has this year expanded its slick compound range from five to seven, with the introduction of a Hypersoft and back-up Superhard, alongside the existing Ultrasoft, Supersoft, Soft, Medium and Hard tyres.
Its compounds are also one step softer than their predecessors, after criticism from some quarters that last year’s tyres were too hard, resulting in an array of one-stop races.
For the Spanish Grand Prix, the Supersoft, Soft and Medium compounds have been selected.
For the Canadian Grand Prix, the three softest compounds – the Hypersoft, Ultrasoft and Supersoft – will be used.
The Hypersoft, which has been run during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, home of the Spanish Grand Prix, is likely to make its event debut in Monaco, with Pirelli yet to confirm its choices for the sixth round of the year.
As per usual, one set of the softest available compound at each Grand Prix must be set aside for use only in Q3, while one set of the other two compounds must be run for one stint of the race.
Teams and drivers are free to choose the make-up of compounds for the other 10 sets from their allocation of 13.
