Formula 1 cars run on tyres from a single supplier — Pirelli, the sole F1 tyre maker for the 2026 season — split into two families: slicks for a dry track and treaded tyres for the wet. The choice of compound is one of the biggest strategic levers a team has.
Pirelli's dry range is a numbered scale of compounds, from the hardest to the softest. For 2026 that scale runs from C1 (the hardest, most durable) through to C6 (the softest, grippiest), with intermediate steps in between. At any single event the supplier nominates three of these to be used, and they are labelled by colour at that event: soft (red sidewall), medium (yellow) and hard (white). Softer compounds offer more grip and faster lap times but wear out sooner; harder compounds are slower over a single lap but last much longer. Because the three are chosen per circuit, the "soft" at one track is not always the same physical compound as the "soft" at another.
For a wet track there are two treaded tyres: the intermediate (green), for a damp or drying surface, and the full wet (blue), which clears the most water and is used in heavy rain. Treaded tyres channel water away to reduce aquaplaning.
There are also rules that force compounds into play. In a dry race, drivers must use at least two different slick compounds, which is why you rarely see a car run a single compound from lights to flag. Each driver is allocated a set number of tyre sets for the weekend, and a few sets are typically earmarked to be handed back after each practice session, so teams have to plan their running carefully. The "free pit stop" under a safety car or red flag, when the whole field slows, can also reshape which compound a team commits to and when.
The core trade-off is always grip versus durability. A team that fits softer tyres can go faster now but must pit sooner; a team on harder tyres sacrifices outright pace to stretch a stint and save a stop. On top of that sits tyre temperature: every compound has a working window, and a tyre that is too cold offers little grip while one that is overheating "grains" or "blisters" and falls away. Reading that balance — compound, wear and temperature — correctly across a race is the heart of F1 strategy.