🛞 What Are the Different Coloured Tyres in Formula 1?
Understanding F1 Tyre Compounds, Colours, and Strategy
Formula 1 isn’t just about speed it’s about strategy. One of the most critical and visible components of that strategy is tyre selection, and in F1, tyres are colour-coded to indicate their compound type and performance characteristics. But what do the colours actually mean? How do they influence race results? And why do drivers often complain about “graining” or “degradation”?
In this guide, we’ll break down what the different coloured tyres in F1 represent, why they matter, and how teams use them to their advantage.
🟥🟡🟢 The Colour Code: Tyre Compounds Explained
F1 tyres are supplied by Pirelli, the exclusive tyre manufacturer for the sport. Each race weekend, Pirelli provides five dry-weather compounds (C1 to C5) but selects three of them for actual use. These are then colour-coded:
🔴 Soft Tyres (Red Stripe)
- Fastest compound, offering maximum grip
- Wears out quickly
- Ideal for qualifying and short, aggressive stints
- Common in Sprint Races or early laps with low fuel
- Expect quick warm-up, but rapid degradation
🟡 Medium Tyres (Yellow Stripe)
- Balanced between performance and durability
- Slower than softs, but lasts longer
- Commonly used for longer race stints
- Often the tyre of choice for the start of a Grand Prix
⚪ Hard Tyres (White Stripe)
- Most durable, but slowest compound
- Takes longer to warm up
- Ideal for hot conditions or strategic long stints
- Can allow for fewer pit stops but requires careful management
🌧️ Wet Weather Tyres
In addition to dry-weather “slicks,” F1 also uses two types of wet weather tyres, each with their own colour:
🟢 Intermediate Tyres (Green Stripe)
- Used in light rain or damp conditions
- Have tread patterns to disperse water
- Designed to operate in mild wet conditions with minimal aquaplaning
- Can sometimes be used in drying conditions to avoid a tyre change
🔵 Full Wet Tyres (Blue Stripe)
- Used in heavy rain with deep tread channels
- Highest water dispersal capacity (up to 85L/sec at full speed!)
- Rarely used because of safety car conditions or red flags in extreme rain
- Much slower due to high rolling resistance
🧪 Tyre Naming System: C1 to C5
Pirelli’s base compounds are ranked C1 to C5:
- C1 = Hardest compound (most durable, least grip)
- C5 = Softest compound (least durable, highest grip)
Each weekend, Pirelli picks three of these based on the circuit’s abrasiveness, temperatures, and cornering demands.
For example:
- In Monaco, C3–C4–C5 might be chosen for maximum grip
- In Silverstone, C1–C2–C3 might be selected due to higher degradation
The three selected tyres will still be called Soft, Medium, and Hard regardless of their base compound numbers.
🔄 Strategy and Rules
F1 tyre strategy is governed by strict rules:
- In dry races, drivers must use at least two different tyre compounds
- That means a mandatory pit stop, unless the race is affected by weather
- Teams plan stints around track position, pace, pit window, and tyre life
- Sometimes a “one-stop” strategy on medium-hard tyres beats a two-stop soft-soft-medium strategy
📉 Degradation, Graining & Thermal Management
- Degradation: Natural wear that reduces grip over time
- Graining: When rubber rolls and tears off unevenly, reducing performance
- Thermal degradation: Overheating tyres lose grip quickly
- Undercut/Overcut: Pitting early or late to gain position using tyre advantage
Teams use real-time telemetry and tyre modeling to make split-second decisions about tyre performance.
👀 Why the Colours Matter to Fans
The tyre colours allow fans, broadcasters, and analysts to instantly understand strategy.
- Seeing a driver on soft tyres chase down one on hards creates anticipation
- Pit stop coverage shows what strategy a team is pursuing
- Even during qualifying, knowing that everyone’s on red-banded softs sets context for lap times
🏁 Example: 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
At the high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Pirelli selected:
- C2 (Hard) → White
- C3 (Medium) → Yellow
- C4 (Soft) → Red
Most teams started on Mediums, then switched to Hards—but some opted for an early switch to Softs during a late Virtual Safety Car, dramatically shaking up the order.