Pirelli announces compound choices and mandatory sets for the Grands Prix of Belgium and Japan
Pirelli will bring the following three compounds to the thirteenth round of the 2016 Formula One season in Belgium*, to be held (August 25-28) on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit:
P Zero White medium P Zero Yellow soft
P Zero Red supersoft
These are the tyres that Pirelli has said must be used at some point in the race: One set of P Zero White medium
One set of P Zero Yellow soft.
Each driver must have both these sets available for the race, and must use at least one of them.
There are the tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying: One set of P Zero Red supersoft
Following the regulations, each driver must save for Q3 one set of the softest of the three nominated compounds. This set will be given back to Pirelli after Q3 for those who qualify in the top 10, but the remaining drivers will keep it for the race - as is the case currently.
JAPANESE GP
Pirelli will bring the following three compounds to the seventeenth round of the 2016 Formula One season in Japan*, to be held (October 6-9) on the Suzuka circuit:
P Zero Orange hard P Zero White medium P Zero Yellow soft
These are the tyres that Pirelli has said must be used at some point in the race: Two sets of P Zero Orange hard.
Each driver must have both these sets available for the race, and must use at least one of them.
There are the tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying: One set of P Zero Yellow soft
Also in this case, following the regulations, each driver must save for Q3 one set of the softest of the three nominated compounds. This set will be given back to Pirelli after Q3 for those who qualify in the top 10, but the remaining drivers will keep it for the race - as is the case currently.
The teams are free to choose the remaining 10 sets; making up 13 sets in total for the weekend.
*The new 2016 tyre regulations mean that tyre nomination for long-haul events have to be made 14 weeks in advance, whereas for European races the deadline is eight weeks in advance.