Pirelli picks tires for first three 2016 races

Pirelli tires

Pirelli has picked medium, soft and super-soft tires for Bahrain and China, the same compounds it will take to the 2016 opener in Australia.

Under new rule tweaks for 2016 Pirelli is attempting to give drivers greater choice over which compound they have available for race weekends. As with Australia's compounds, which were confirmed last week, Pirelli stipulates one set of medium and soft tires must be set aside for the races in Bahrain (April 3) and China (April 17). At least one of those sets must be used during the race.

One set of super-soft tires will be assigned for Q3 in qualifying for both races. Drivers who do not make it through to Q3 will simply get that set transferred across to the race, effectively the same as within the old regulations.

Of the 13 available sets for the weekend, drivers and teams are able to choose the remaining ten sets themselves out of the compounds selected. The 2016 Sporting Regulations state teams have 14 weeks for any event outside Europe to make Pirelli aware of which sets it will choose for each weekend. If the team misses a deadline Pirelli makes the selection on its behalf.