Formula One’s sole tyre manufacturer Pirelli is dropping the sixth compound for the upcoming 2026 season and returning to a five‑compound range. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo explains why the Milan-based manufacturer reverts to the five-compound range after a single season with six compounds.
Pirelli has finalised its tyres for the upcoming 2026 F1 season that will see the arrival of all-new technical and power unit regulations. The process consisted of two periods.
The Italian tyre manufacturer first finalised the tyre construction which they had been required to complete until the 1st of September. Pirelli explained that they finalised the constructions “after a careful evaluation of the balance across the axles, taking into account the active aerodynamics that will be introduced next year.”
The Milan-based tyre supplier then homologated the compounds for which they had time until the 15th of December as stipulated in the technical regulations. The five compounds for the 2026 F1 season were chosen after completing an analysis following a post-race test session in Mexico City.
Tyre development was carried out on the basis of forecast data as supplied by the teams, using simulations referring to loads and speeds predicted for the end of the 2026 season, while pursuing objectives similar to those of this year.
The models were validated based on the results of development track testing with mule cars modified to reproduce the characteristics of the next generation of cars.
That was a complicating factor during testing, stemming from the fact that tyres could not be tested on actual 2026 cars, which will run slightly narrower 18 inch tyres than the current ones.
Only five compounds in 2026
The range of dry tyres will consist of five compounds from the hardest C1 to the softest C5, all with similar positioning to the current one and an approach to thermal degradation “aimed at allowing for a variety of choices across the many different characteristics to be found at the circuits on the world championship calendar.
“Particular attention has been paid to performance differences between the compounds in terms of lap time, so as to ensure a wide and consistent delta between them, to deliver more strategy options,” stated Pirelli.
Pirelli’s decision means that the softest compound of the 2025 tyre range, the C6 will not make a re-appearance next season. The sixth compound had been introduced in Imola in order to provide extra grip on low grip circuits where degradation is usually not significant.
The Milan-based company explained that “the decision not to validate the sixth and softest compound, the C6, which is in the range for the current season, was taken precisely because it was impossible to meet this delta requirement.
“The most recent tests showed that the time gap between the C5 and C6 prototypes was too small compared to the others, without offering any significant performance advantage.”
The fact that the C6 compound didn’t offer a meaningful performance gap meant that it wasn’t different enough from C5 to matter strategically.
Furthermore, Pirelli concluded that the new C1–C5 range already covers all circuit types without needing a special extra‑soft option. In addition, with new car regulations, new aero, and new tyre sizes, Pirelli and the FIA preferred a simpler, more predictable tyre range for the first year of the new ruleset.