Tyres are the only part of a Formula 1 car that touches the ground, and they are the component that most often decides a race. Every strategy call, every pit stop and most of the radio traffic you hear on a Sunday is about them. This guide explains the compounds, the colours, the rules and the physics — and why “the tyres fell off a cliff” is the most important sentence in the sport.

The compounds: C1 to C6

Pirelli, Formula 1’s sole tyre supplier, makes six dry-weather slick compounds, numbered C1 (the hardest) to C6 (the softest, added in 2025). Softer compounds grip better and are faster over a lap but wear out and overheat sooner; harder compounds are slower but last longer. For each Grand Prix, Pirelli nominates three consecutive compounds from the range — for example C3, C4 and C5 — and those three become that weekend’s hard, medium and soft.

What the colours mean

The sidewall colour tells you which of the weekend’s three compounds a car is running, not which absolute compound it is:

  • Red: soft — the fastest and shortest-lived of the three
  • Yellow: medium — the compromise tyre and most common race tyre
  • White: hard — the most durable, slowest over a single lap
  • Green: intermediate — for damp or drying tracks
  • Blue: full wet — for heavy rain and standing water

Because the colours are relative, the “soft” at a circuit using C1–C3 is actually the same rubber as the “hard” at a circuit using C3–C5. Commentators usually name the absolute compound when it matters.

The two-compound rule

In a dry race, every driver must use at least two different dry compounds. That rule is what guarantees at least one pit stop per race and creates the strategic variety between one-stop and two-stop approaches. If the race is officially declared wet, the requirement is dropped — a driver can run intermediates from start to finish. Drivers who reach Q3 must also start the race on the tyre allocation rules of the weekend, though the old rule forcing Q3 runners to start on their qualifying tyre was scrapped in 2022.

Degradation: the number that runs the race

Tyres lose performance as they wear, and the rate of that loss — degradation, or “deg” — varies enormously between circuits, compounds and cars. Engineers measure it in tenths of a second per lap. A tyre with 0.1s per lap of degradation can run a long stint; one losing 0.3s per lap will hit “the cliff”, the point where performance drops off sharply, within a handful of laps. Predicting where the cliff sits is the core of race strategy, which we cover in our strategy guide.

Graining, blistering and thermal degradation

Three distinct things go wrong with a tyre:

  • Graining: when the tyre is too cold for the load it is under, the surface tears and rolls into small ridges of rubber that reduce grip. It often clears once the tyre warms up.
  • Blistering: the opposite problem. An overheated tyre core causes bubbles under the surface that burst, leaving holes in the tread. Blistering does not recover.
  • Thermal degradation: the rubber itself loses its properties from sustained high temperature. Managing tyre temperature — through driving style, brake ducts and set-up — is the everyday form of tyre management you hear drivers discussing.

Tyre allocation and blankets

Each driver receives a fixed allocation of dry sets for the weekend, split between the compounds, plus intermediates and wets. Used sets must be returned after certain sessions, so how many fresh softs a driver saves for qualifying is a real decision. Tyres are heated in electric blankets before use; the sport has been reducing blanket temperatures and considering their removal for several seasons, which is why you sometimes see drivers weaving aggressively on out-laps to build temperature.

Wet tyres

Intermediates handle a damp track and can also cope with a drying one, which makes them the most commonly used wet tyre by far. Full wets move enormous volumes of water but are so slow on a drying surface that drivers switch off them as early as they dare. The crossover point — when a slick becomes faster than an intermediate — is one of the hardest calls a pit wall makes, and getting it right by a single lap can win a race.

2026: narrower tyres, new demands

The 2026 regulations introduced narrower front and rear tyres to suit the smaller, lighter cars. Combined with the cars’ heavy reliance on energy harvesting under braking, tyre behaviour has changed noticeably: drivers must manage rear temperatures while regenerating energy, and the reduced contact patch makes the cars more sensitive to the wrong compound choice. Expect tyre talk to stay at the centre of every race for the rest of the cycle.

Frequently asked questions

What do the colours on F1 tyres mean?

Red is the weekend’s soft, yellow the medium and white the hard. Green is the intermediate and blue the full wet.

How many tyre compounds does F1 have?

Six dry slick compounds, C1 (hardest) to C6 (softest), plus intermediates and wets. Three slicks are nominated for each weekend.

Do drivers have to use two different tyres in a race?

Yes, in a dry race every driver must use at least two dry compounds, which forces a pit stop. The rule is waived in wet races.

How long do F1 tyres last?

A soft may last 10 to 20 laps at a demanding circuit; a hard can run 40 laps or more. Teams plan stints around the point where lap-time loss outweighs a pit stop.