F1: Pirelli announces tyre choices for the first four races of the 2019 season

What's the story?

Pirelli, the official tyre supplier for Formula One, has announced the tyre compounds that will be made available for the first four races of the 2019 season, which is set to commence on 17 March 2019 in Australia.

In case you didn't know...

The Italian tyre manufacturer had announced earlier this year that the 2019 season would no longer see the expansive tyre choices that one had witnessed during the 2018 season. Rather than six compounds (seven - if one considers the orange superhard compound), the next year will only feature five and will have a different naming system.

The tyres will be graded from C1 to C5, with 1 being the hardest compound and 5 being the softest compound available. Despite the presence of five different compounds, all the races in the 2019 season will feature only three consecutive compounds, offering hard, medium and soft options.

Furthermore, one will see consecutive compounds, meaning there won't be a skip in the tyre compound number in any of the races.

The heart of the matter

The announcement by Pirelli on 10 December 2018 cleared the air on the tyre compounds that would be used during the first four races of the 2019 Formula One season. As expected, the upcoming season's tyre compounds would feature tyres from the simplified range that was revealed by the Italian company earlier this year.

Some gifts 🎁 come early. Here are the #Fit4F1 compounds for the #AusGP, #BahrainGP, #ChineseGP and #AzerbaijanGP! (Quick Reminder - In 2019 there will only be 3 colours per race, but 5 different compounds available: C1 is the hardest, C5 the softest) pic.twitter.com/ijoIzO3kqb

— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) December 10, 2018

The opening Grand Prix in Australia will feature the C2, C3 and C4 compounds while the second race in Bahrain will see the C1, C2 and C3 compounds, making it the first race in the 2019 calendar to feature the hardest tyre choices available.

Tyre compounds C2, C3 and C4 will be made available for third Grand Prix that will take place at the Shanghai International Circuit in China.

Finally, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will also see the same combination used for the Chinese Grand Prix.

What's next?

With the tyre manufacturer giving a preference to harder compounds, drivers will look to push harder, and one might see less race-pace management in the upcoming 2019 Formula One season.