Formula One tyre manufacturer Pirelli have announced the secretly selected tyre compounds chosen by the 22 drivers for the opening race of the new season.
The regulations regarding the use of tyres in Formula One will see a shake-up for 2016.
Instead of two compounds being announced by Pirelli to be be used for each Grand Prix, like in previous seasons, for 2016 drivers will have a free choice of a third compound.
Pirelli will still nominate two compounds for each Grand Prix, but the drivers will decide on their third option. This can be different to their team-mates, but teams will have to make their choices within a deadline set by Pirelli and their choices will remain secret until two weeks before each Grand Prix.
Drivers will also be able to choose how many of each set they get for the weekend, with 10 sets of tyres their own choice and only 3 sets specifically chosen by Pirelli.
Those 3 sets specifically chosen by Pirelli will be for use in Q3 and the race [although if a driver doesn’t make it through to Q3 they can opt to use them in the race].
Pirelli will nominate two mandatory race sets for each car, but the teams will decide which one will have to be used during the race.
For Australia, Bahrain and China the Supersoft, soft and medium tyres will all feature at all three race weekends with one set of the medium and one set of the soft tyre must be held back for each race [but remember only one has to be used by the driver in a race].
formula1.com have released the selections which overall are similar, but could show potential different tyre strategies.
Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg do not have the same selections, Hamilton has opted for one extra set of soft tyres whilst Rosberg has opted for one extra set of medium tyres.
The only other teams to have gone for split strategies between drivers are Sauber and Haas.
Ferrari have selected the same compounds as Rosberg, whilst Williams have gone with an additional set of supersofts.
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