Pirelli loses one compound for 2026: here is the new range for the next era
Pirelli is continuing the inevitable development process of its tyre range for the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship. Today, the Italian manufacturer, which remains the sole tyre supplier in F1, confirmed that it has finalised the compounds that will be used across the 24 Grands Prix of next season.
The 2026 compounds, five in total, will be officially homologated on 15 December as dictated by the technical regulations. The range will include: C1 (the hardest), C2, C3, C4 and C5 (the softest). The construction of the new tyres was completed almost three months ago, on 1 September.
As many fans will have noticed, the C6 compound will not be part of the 2026 lineup. This decision was taken because the compound — which was expected to become the softest tyre of the range, as it was this season — did not show a sufficient performance gap compared to the C5 to justify its full development and homologation.
The performance targets required for the 2026 tyres, particularly the need for clearer differences between each compound, led to the removal of the C6. Pirelli’s aim is to offer teams enough strategic variety during the races without having to enforce mandatory pit stop numbers, something that has already happened this year.
Final tests before approval
The new tyres will be tested during the collective session in Abu Dhabi on 9 December, held right after the end of the current Formula 1 season. This will be the final opportunity to evaluate them before homologation, although only the C2, C3, C4 and C5 will be used during the test.
The C1 and the Full Wet tyres — even though they are included in the 2026 range — will not be supplied for the Yas Marina test, presumably because it would be impossible to run them in the appropriate conditions. The testing programme will be handled by an official driver using a mule car, while the same day will also feature young drivers on the track in the 2025-spec cars fitted with the compounds designed for the current season.
Development challenges with mule cars
It is also worth remembering that the 2026 tyres have been developed over several sessions using mule cars — modified chassis intended to reproduce the characteristics of next year’s cars. This has been one of the biggest challenges for Pirelli, as the tyres have not been tested directly on the actual 2026 cars, which will use 18-inch wheels that are slightly narrower than the current ones.
Even so, Pirelli motorsport boss Mario Isola sounded confident: “We have completed hundreds of thousands of kilometres on mule cars and the data correlation is excellent. The five-compound range gives us the spread we need while keeping things simpler and more predictable for the teams.”
Come Bahrain 2026, the grid will roll out on a cleaner, leaner Pirelli lineup – and without the C6 that never quite made the cut.
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