Pirelli confirms compounds for first three F1 races

Pirelli has announced which Slick tire compounds will be taken to the opening trio of 2012 Formula 1 races in Australia, Malaysia and China. For the Milan company’s second year back in the sport, all compounds have been modified and the firm expects at least two pit-stops per car, per race.

For Rounds 1 and 3 in Melbourne and Shanghai, the Medium (white) and Soft (yellow) compounds will be in use, whereas Hard (silver) and Medium (white) will be taken to Kuala Lumpur for the second event of the season. Once again, the harder compound of a weekend is known as ‘Prime’, with ‘Option’ being the softer of the two.

Under normal circumstances, each driver will be allocated six sets of Primes and five of Options per weekend. New for 2012 is Cinturato branding – the label on Pirelli’s first F1 tires of the 1950s – for the Wet (blue) and Intermediate (green) compounds.

Tire selections for Rounds 1-3:

Australia Soft (yellow) and Medium (white)
Malaysia Medium (white) and Hard (silver)
China Soft (yellow) and Medium (white)

In 2011, the Soft and Hard compounds were used for the first four races.