A new look for a new generation: Pirelli unveil the 2026 F1 tyre range
As the post season test gets underway in Abu Dhabi, Pirelli have revealed the tyre range for Formula 1's new generation which features an all new sidewall design.
With the December 15th deadline for homologation of the 2026 compounds fast approaching, the post-season test being held in Abu Dhabi represents an opportunity for the teams to get to grips with the range Pirelli have all but finalised.
It will be made up of five compounds instead of the six currently seen as the C6, softest compound will be dropped after only having been used at four events of the 2025 season.
As such, the compounds will range from C1 at the hardest end to C5 at the softest, and Pirelli state that performance is expected to be similar to current levels yet with a wider and more consistent gap between each compound to encourage strategic variation.
The colours used to denote the soft, medium and hard selection from this range at each race weekend will be consistent with what’s been seen since the ‘tyre rainbow’ was removed – red for soft, yellow for medium, and white for hard.
Green and blue will also still represent the intermediate and extreme wet compounds, respectively, which, despite Pirelli seemingly examining different tread patterns over their tests, will have treads consistent with those seen in 2025.
The biggest difference between the 2022 regulatory era tyres and the 2026 era therefore remains the size. Although still 18 inches in diameter, the width of the front tyres will reduce from 305mm to 280mm while the rears will reduce from 405mm to 375mm.
With this comes a difference in the dispersal potential of the intermediate and extreme wet too. At 300km/h, the green-walled intermediate will disperse 31 litres per second (l/s) while the blue-walled extreme wet will disperse 76l/s, down from the 85l/s of the current specification.
A new design for a new era
To mark this new era for Pirelli tyres in F1, the sidewall design used for the last fourteen years has been changed to better differentiate the Formula 1 range from Pirelli’s other motorsport or road-going products.
The coloured line design that’s been run since 2011 has been reworked to incorporate a chequered flag logo, which the manufacturer says gives the Formula 1 tyres “a completely different look” while “maintaining all the historic design language that is synonymous with the Milan-based company.”
Getting out on track
While these tyres are being run by all ten teams on their mule cars at this post-season test and will be used to launch the new generation of cars with at the teams’ respective events, their first time running on a 2026 car will be at the closed pre-season test in Barcelona, from January 26-30th next year.