Pirelli announces which tyres will be used at Zandvoort and Monza

Like last year, Pirelli will take the C1, C2 and C3 tyres to Zandvoort. Why? Zandvoort is one of the most demanding circuits of the year for tyres, especially because of the two banking corners (Turn 3 and Turn 14). Yet there is something different compared to 2022. This season's C1 is a new and softer compound that sits between the C2 and the previous C1 (now known as the C0).

At Monza, we will again experiment with a new qualifying format that we also saw in Hungary. The three softest compounds have been selected: the C3, the C4 and the C5. Last year we still saw the C2s through to C4s in Italy, but now the rubber is a step softer, which could offer a wider range of options from a strategic point of view because of the alternative qualifying.

At the Hungaroring, many drivers, with Max Verstappen being one of the most outspoken, have been very critical of the new qualifying set-up in which qualifying in Q1 should be on hard tyres, in Q2 on mediums and Q3 on softs. However, what is mainly the problem is that the drivers will have not 13 but 11 tyre compounds at their disposal, meaning that there will be a lot less mileage in free practice than usual.