Pirelli reveals F1 P Zero tyres at first 4 GPs

Pirelli has announced the P Zero slick tyre compounds it will provide to Formula One for the first four grands prix of the 2013 World Championship season. The races will take place in Australia, Malaysia, China and Bahrain, over the course of which all four compounds will be used. In addition, no two grands prix will receive the same allocation variation, meaning that there will be a wide variety of tactical possibilities on show in the opening stages of the season. Such a move could help to retain the intrigue of the opening stages of the 2012 season, during which seven different drivers claimed victory in each of the first seven grands prix. Pirelli’s tyres have been overhauled this year too, and while the compounds are designed to offer fast warm-up performance through being generally softer, teams will be getting used to the way their cars handle the new rubber in the different conditions offered by these races.

In Australia, the P Zero White medium and P Zero Red supersoft tyres will be nominated. This is the first time that Pirelli has nominated the softest compound in the range for Melbourne. Pirelli says the full step in the compound choice should ensure a performance gap between the cars that allows strategy to come into play.

The difference between compounds in the next two races will be less, as Pirelli has chosen the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium for Malaysia – the two hardest tyres in the range – to counter high temperatures and an abrasive surface; and the P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft tyres in China for the comparatively high degradation expected as a result of the demanding track layout.

Like Australia, Bahrain has a brand new nomination this year compared to last year: P Zero Orange hard and P Zero Yellow soft. This is designed to ensure plenty of speed in qualifying coupled with the durability needed for the race, which is again often held in high temperatures.

The rules stipulate that under normal circumstances each team will receive six sets of the harder compound and five sets of the softer compound for the race weekend. Pirelli will also bring its Cinturato Green intermediate tyre for damp track conditions (four sets per driver) as well as the Cinturato Blue rain tyre (three sets per driver) to each race.