Pirelli announce tyre compounds for opening races

Formula One tyre supplier Pirelli have announced their tyre allocations for the first four races of the new 2014 season.

In a change from their usual tactic, the Italian tyre manufacturer hasn’t selected their tyre compounds with the normal two-step gap as had been the normal procedure in previous years.

Instead they have opted for a single-step gap for Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain and China.

Pirelli believe that the new compound tyres are more durable than in previous years, which should result in less tyre degradation and marbles on the track.

However despite this change, they still believe that this season, Formula One races will still comprise of between two and three stop strategies

‘The results of the final test showed an increased performance gap between the hard and the medium compound, and the medium and the soft compound,’

‘This will give plenty of scope for the teams to formulate interesting strategies to boost their race prospects.’ said the Pirelli statement.

Pirelli motorsport chief Paul Hembery added: ‘The conclusion we can draw so far is that the 2014 tyres are more consistent and wear less than their predecessors, without compromising performance,

‘We’re also meeting another of our objectives with one more step towards the reduction of ‘marbles’ on the track.’

Formula One teams will receive soft and medium tyres for Melbourne, Sakhir and Shanghai, with medium’s and hard’s for Sepang.