Formula One fans will see new colour codings on the Pirelli tyres this year as the Italian manufacturer moves into its ninth season of supplying rubber to the Grand Prix teams.

There will be only three colours in 2019 with white for the hardest compound of the weekend, yellow for the medium one and red for the softest compound. In total there will be five compounds available for the year and numbered from C1 (hardest) to C5, the softest.

The working ranges are a bit higher for this year in order to reduce the chances of the tyres overheating and they are:  

• C1 (hardest compound) 110-140°C
• C2 110-135°C
• C3 105-135°C
• C4 90-120°C
• C5 85-115°C

Another new move for this year is to reduce the maximum temperature of the electric blankets which heat up the tyre before it is fitted to the car during a pitstop so it is already at working temperature when the car hits the track. F1 mechanics are so well trained that they can change all four tyres in less than three seconds!

For 2019 the rears will be capped at 80 degrees centigrade while in their blankets and the fronts will stay as before, 100 degrees centigrade, hot enough to boil water. This will help front tyre warm-up and reduce the risk of graining where the tread starts to tear from the carcass which is especially a problem in low ambient temperatures. As a result, the starting pressures of the rear tyres have been reduced accordingly.

Pirelli successfully tested a thinner tread construction at selected races last year with the aim of stopping overheating and this design is being used during 2019 but the tyres will have a wider working temperature range too. It will be bringing a new intermediate tyre for when the weather switches from wet to dry or vice versa and it can cope with a wider range of conditions. The full wet weather rain tyre provides better resistance to aquaplaning.