Pirelli announces tyres for Baku: The softest selection for the demanding street race

Pirelli Motorsport announced the tyre compounds for this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Formula 1's official tyre supplier will bring the three softest compounds of its 2022 tyres to the race, with teams set to receive the C3 hard tyre (x2 sets), C4 medium tyre (x3 sets), and the C5 soft tyre (x8 sets). The C1 and C2 are the most rigid compounds.

"Until Jeddah came along, Baku was the fastest street circuit of the year," said Pirelli's Motorsport Director Mario Isola to the official F1 website. "But the demands of this city track are still relatively low, as none of the corners takes a huge amount of energy out of the tyres due to the low levels of abrasion and contained lateral loads - which means that we can have the same nomination as Monaco. Having said that, the high speeds in Azerbaijan still place a certain demand on the tyres.

"The main point is all about traction, with finding the right balance between front and rear axles being the key challenge for all the teams: you need to have enough heat in the front tyres to generate grip, despite the long straights that cool them down, but not too much heat at the rear. Otherwise, it's easy to overheat them in the traction zones.

"Track temperature is also inconsistent in Baku, so all in all it's quite a specific track with a few different technical challenges, which are nonetheless the same for everyone."

For more on this weekend's Azerbaijan GP, click here.