FIA issue mandatory tyre ruling for all teams at Austrian Grand Prix

The FIA have confirmed a mandatory tyre change for all 10 F1 teams at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, with a different compound selection for the action in Spielberg.

F1’s governing body shared Pirelli’s official preview ahead of the race weekend, where the tyre supplier confirmed a harder set of compounds will be used in Austria.

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All 10 teams will have the C3 (hard), C4 (medium) and C5 (soft) tyres available to them, which is one-step harder than the compounds used at the Canadian GP (C4/C5/C6).

The tyre compounds this year are the same as those chosen in Austria last year, selected for best use on the highly abrasive surface at the Red Bull Ring.

One of the main challenges for drivers at the Austrian GP will be the overheating of the tyres and managing them during the race, due to the many hard braking and acceleration points around the track.

Coupled with the high temperatures forecast in Spielberg this weekend, it explains why Pirelli have opted for a harder compound of tyres for the Austrian GP.

How many pit stops will take place at the Austrian GP?

If the 2024 Austrian GP is a metric to judge by, this weekend’s race could be another two-stop event based on Pirelli’s data from last year.

Those who made three pit stops in 2024 did so because of unforeseen circumstances, such as Max Verstappen after he collided with Lando Norris fighting for the lead.

Furthermore, all drivers started on the grid with medium tyres and a majority changed to hard tyres on their first stop, with the field varying between the medium and hard compounds to finish the race.

Verstappen remains the most successful driver around the Red Bull Ring, collecting four Austrian GP victories over the course of his career in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

Following his collision with Norris in 2024, a fifth race win escaped the champion and George Russell clinched his second career win alongside his first victory at the circuit.

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