Pirelli tests, the tires available to the teams After the Montmeló shakedown, the Formula 1 season takes on an official character for the first time, with the pre-season tests in Bahrain. This is a fundamental step to allow the teams to gain further confidence with the new single-seaters created following the latest regulation change, useful for collecting invaluable data on the newly created generation of cars. Everything has changed, even the tires, which will be slightly narrower than in 2026 while maintaining the 18-inch diameter of the rim: Pirelli will make them available to the teams, following different criteria. In the first event (11-13 February) the teams will only be able to use the hardest slicks in the range, from C1 to C3. Each team will have a maximum of 28 sets of dry tires available and must also include a set of intermediates. In the second test (18-20 February), however, the use of the entire slick range will be allowed, from C1 to C5, with a limit of 24 sets per team. At this stage, wet tires will not be supplied and it will be possible to reuse the sets already mounted previously, as long as they have covered less than ten laps. Each team, in compliance with the maximum tire limit, was able to ask Pirelli: for example, in the first part of the tests, Cadillac chose a balanced program between the three compounds, but the majority of the teams will concentrate on work on the C3.
The visual identification system for the compounds was confirmed for the Sakhir tests. The C1 and C2 will have white logos, the C3 and C4 will be characterized by yellow, while the C5 will feature the classic red. Furthermore, C1, C3 and C5 will have their shoulders decorated with brackets with the checkered flag, while C2 and C4 will only feature the Pirelli and P Zero logo.
