Pirelli brings quick(er) tyres to Saudi GP, but predicts one-stop race is possible

• Pirelli confirmed the tyre selection for this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
  
• The quickest tyre drivers have at their disposal is the second softest in Pirelli's range, the C4.
• It is predicted that drivers can complete the race performing just one pitstop.

Pirelli, Formula 1's official tyre supplier, confirmed the tyre allocation for this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Italian tyre maker will bring a selection of tyres to the Grand Prix that will play into the Jeddah Corniche Circuit's characteristics, where drivers can average 250km/h around the twisty and technical street circuit.

The tyres teams and drivers have at their disposal are the C2, C3, and C4, acting as the white-walled hard, yellow-walled medium, and red-walled soft, respectively. The selection mimics the 2022 selection at the same venue.

READ: Highly technical and extremely fast: Saudi racetrack to test F1 drivers' abilities again

"For the rapid Jeddah track, we have confirmed the same compound choices as last year as they showed very good consistency throughout the race weekend," said Pirelli Motorsport director Mario Isola.

"In the two races held up to now, the Saudi Arabian GP has been quite unpredictable because of the frequent safety cars and neutralisations, being a typical street circuit.

"The first race in Bahrain was all about traction and braking, but Jeddah, instead, focuses on lateral forces, with completely different characteristics to Sakhir."

One-stop possible?

In 2022, many drivers opted to start the Saudi Arabian GP on the soft tyre, but an early safety car forced many teams' hand, with most drivers pitting early for a set of hard tyres. These drivers went on to finish the race, having done one pitstop, and Isola believes that it could be the case again this year.

"A one-stopper was the fastest option in 2022 when a safety car led to an early pit stop for most of the drivers, who went on to finish the race on the hard tyre," the Italian added.

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"Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fought hard on this strategy thanks also to the durability of the tyres, with the Red Bull driver winning by less than a second at the end of a great race."

Each F1 driver will have two sets of hard tyres, three sets of medium tyres, and eight sets of soft tyres for the weekend. In the unlikely event that it rains in any of the sessions, drivers can have intermediate (green) and full-wet (blue) tyres.