Lewis Hamilton didn’t hold back his frustration with Pirelli’s F1 tyres after the Monaco Grand Prix, and it seems his words, along with similar comments from Max Verstappen, have prompted some action.
Pirelli is planning to introduce an extra soft tyre to their range for the F1 2025 season. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have already tested the new C6 compound at Paul Ricard this week. Currently, Pirelli offers five different dry-weather compounds ranging from the hardest C1 to the softest C5.
An extra hard compound called the C0 was developed for the 2023 season but was never used in a race and subsequently dropped. Driver complaints over the current tyres persisted at the recent Monaco Grand Prix where Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton told media that the tyres were ‘too hard’ as most drivers could complete nearly an entire race on one set. Hamilton suggested spicing things up with a mandatory three pit stops. Max Verstappen and George Russell also agreed that changes were needed for Monaco’s Sundays.
Responding to these concerns, Pirelli has moved forward with plans for an additional softer compound, the C6, aiming to address overheating issues and increase strategic variability. The C6 is expected to be particularly useful at street circuits like Monaco and Singapore, offering teams three different compounds to choose from at each race next season.
Mario Isola, Pirelli’s motorsport director, confirmed that the idea behind the C6 is to reduce overheating and find a balance between overheating and degradation. ‘We tested one [C6] in Paul Ricard a couple of days ago. It’s the first attempt but the idea is to go in this direction probably to [have] six compounds next year,’ Isola said. ‘The target is that we have to encourage a mix between one and two-stop strategy.’
At its peak, Pirelli’s dry-weather range featured seven different compounds in 2018, when superhard and hypersoft tyres were introduced. However, those were abandoned at the end of the season for the current C1-C5 range. The upcoming introduction of the C6 will mark a shift back towards more variety in tyre options, potentially bringing more excitement and strategy into future races.
With Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and other drivers voicing their concerns, Pirelli’s move to softer tyres in the F1 2025 season is a significant response to driver feedback. The introduction of the C6 compound could bring the desired changes to race strategies and tyre performance, especially on street circuits.
Source: Planetf1
