Pirelli announce tyres for Spain & Monaco

Pirelli have announced which compound tyres the teams will have for rounds four, five and six of the 2012 Formula One World Championship.

Pirelli have changed the design of their tyres for the 2012, with the new rubber said to be racier than the previous compounds used during the Italian manufactures first season in Formula One.

The new tyres have also been designed to be 'squarer' to improve grip and handling for the drivers.

In Australia the teams got to grips with the new medium [white marked] compound and soft [yellow] compound, while in Malaysia they had the [silver marked] hard tyres with the medium compound. Although due to the wet conditions, we didn't get to see what impact the hard and medium tyre compounds would have had in the race.

Pirelli have shortened the gap to less than a second per lap between compounds, which depending on the difference between degradation will provide a variety of tyre strategies over the course of a race weekend.

In China and Bahrain the teams will have the same combination of tyres as they had in Australia. But things are set to change for Spain and Monaco.

“Our nominations this year are designed to push the envelope of performance, as can be seen from our latest choices,” Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery told formula1.com.

“Only the super-soft tyre is the same compound as last year: the other compounds are softer and therefore faster, designed to encourage closer racing as well as a wider variety of strategies.”

After the teams completing thousands of kilometres at Catalunya over the summer, Pirelli have opted for the hard and soft compound tyres, a combination which hasn't yet been used this season.

In Monaco the [red marked] super-soft tyre will get its 2012 debut and has been paired up with the soft compound.