After the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton expressed his dissatisfaction with Pirelli’s F1 tires.
Pirelli have revealed plans to introduce an extra soft tyre to their range for the F1 2025 season, with Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz trialling the new C6 compound in a test at Paul Ricard this week.
Pirelli currently offers a range of F1 tyres comprising of five dry-weather compounds, starting from the toughest C1 tyre to the softest C5 option.
Pirelli working on new C6 tyre for F1 2025
The C0, an exceptionally tough compound, was specifically engineered for the F1 2023 season. However, it was ultimately abandoned for the current year without ever making an appearance during a race weekend.
At the recent Monaco Grand Prix, driver grievances regarding the present tires persisted. Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver, expressed to the media, including PlanetF1.com, that the tires were excessively rigid as they allowed most drivers to cover almost an entire race distance without the need for a tire change.
Hamilton urged Formula 1 to discover methods to add more excitement to the sport, proposing a compulsory three pit stops as a potential solution. Max Verstappen and George Russell also expressed the need for alterations during the races in Monte Carlo.
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News has surfaced indicating that Pirelli is currently working on a fresh addition to their range of compounds for F1 2025. This upcoming compound, known as the C6 tyre, is anticipated to be positioned on the softer side of the spectrum.
Next season, it is expected that teams will retain the option of selecting from three distinct tire compounds for every race. The C6 compound is anticipated to be the preferred choice for street circuits like Monaco and Singapore.
Earlier this week, Sainz and Leclerc, who emerged victorious in the Monaco Grand Prix, participated in a tyre test for the C6 at Paul Ricard.
Pirelli’s motorsport director, Mario Isola, has confirmed that the Italian manufacturer is spearheading the introduction of the C6 in a bid to reduce overheating and bring about increased strategic variation.
He stated, as reported by the Times, that the intention is to bring forth a softer C6 compound, as the number of street circuits on the calendar continues to increase, necessitating the use of softer compounds.
Our goal is to constantly adjust the range on the soft side in order to prevent overheating.
Finding the appropriate balance between overheating and degradation is the true challenge at hand.
A few days ago, we conducted a test at Paul Ricard with one [C6]. This was our initial trial, but the plan is to possibly introduce six compounds next year, moving in this direction.
“We took into account the calendar and the race destinations, and that was our idea.”
Our objective is to promote a combination of both one and two-stop strategies.
“We suggested a more gentle approach in response to the teams’ request for mitigating overheating.”
Reducing the risk of overheating may result in fewer tyre changes as cars can cover more laps with less degradation.
“We will require softer compounds within the range if we proceed in this direction.”
In 2018, Pirelli introduced the superhard and hypersoft tyres, expanding their dry-weather range to a total of seven different compounds.
At the end of that season, the manufacturer decided to abandon both those compounds and its “Pirelli rainbow” system, opting instead for the C1-C5 nomenclature.
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