Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 leads Carlos Sainz of Spain driving (55) the Ferrari F1-75 and the rest of the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of The Americas on October 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

F1: Pirelli announces tires for ‘American’ races

Pirelli have announced their tire compound choices for the three upcoming No. and So. America races – Austin, Mexico City and Brazil

Formula 1 returns to the American continent in the closing stages of the season for three races on consecutive weekends (from 20th October to 5th November) in three different countries: the United States, Mexico, and Brazil.

When it comes to the tire choices, two are the same and one is all-new for this year. The nominations are unchanged from last year for Austin and Interlagos: C2 as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow medium, and C4 as P Zero Red soft.

For the Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City though, the choices will be a step softer than last year: C3 as P Zero White hard, C4 as P Zero Yellow medium, and C5 as P Zero Red soft.

A new version of the C4 will also be tried out at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez during free practice, with a view to 2024. This test will be run in exactly the same way as last Friday in Suzuka, where a new version of the C2 was trialed.

Teams will receive two extra sets per driver of the experimental compound, which they can use whenever they like during the two hours of free practice scheduled for Friday.

The other two grands prix, in Austin and Sao Paulo, will be Sprint weekends, with just one hour of free practice before qualifying on Friday.

Saturday will then feature the Sprint Shootout to determine the grid positions for the Sprint itself in the afternoon.

On Sunday, the grand prix takes place as usual. This will be the first time that the Circuit of the Americas holds a sprint weekend, whereas Interlagos has already hosted sprint races in both 2021 and 2022.