Pirelli has announced the tyre compounds it has selected for the first two races of the 2017 Formula One season.
Following the huge success of introducing three dry compounds per race in 2016, the Italian manufacturer will continue to do so again next year – when wider tyres will be introduced as part of the massive rules overhaul.
The season opener in Melbourne will see Pirelli go a step softer than last season, bringing the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft slicks alongside the intermediate and full wet tyres.
For the second race in China, the same selection as last year has been made – the medium, soft and supersoft. This could be a wise decision, as the tyres were part of the reason why the 2016 race in Shanghai holds the record for the most overtakes in a single race.
One set of the hardest and one set of the medium compound must be reserved solely for the race in both events, whilst one set of the softest tyre must be saved for Q3.
As well as changes to the sizes of the tyres in 2017, the selection process has also been altered. For the first five races of the season, a default allocation will be supplied to all drivers – removing the need for teams to guess their choices before the cars have been run in anger.
The first five races will see the drivers allocated two sets of the hardest compound, four of the medium and seven of the softest specification for the race weekend. Each driver will continue to be supplied with four sets of intermediates and three of the full wet every weekend.
