F1 teams braced for tyre JUMP at upcoming Belgian Grand Prix

Pirelli have announced an unusual tyre compound jump for the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix, handing teams another strategy headache.

The compounds used during race weekends change week to week, and in 2025, the dry tyre selections range from C1-C6, with the C1 being the hardest compound and C6 the new softest compound for this season.

Each weekend, a run of three is normally used as the allocation for teams, whether that be C1, C2, C3 or C2, C3, C4 or C4, C5, C6. However, the latest Pirelli announcement for the Belgian GP has provided an unusual compound jump.

During the sprint weekend at Spa Francorchamps, a varied selection of the C1, C3 and C4 will be used, likely leaving strategists scratching their heads.

It's the first time since the 2022 Australian Grand Prix that such a compound jump has been used, and it is designed to make a two-stop strategy even more competitive in Sunday’s race, while adding a greater degree of uncertainty to tyre management over the course of the weekend.

And with the weekend being a sprint weekend, teams will only get one hour of practice to try out each tyre and make their decisions over which tyre will be best for which stages of the two races.

The intermediate and full wet tyres will of course also be available to teams, and they may be needed, with the current weather forecast for the weekend looking mixed.

Who will win the Belgian GP?

Red Bull head into the race weekend with a new team principal for the first time since the 2005 Australian Grand Prix, after long-serving chief Christian Horner was axed and replaced by Laurent Mekies earlier this month.

Mekies joins Red Bull with the team's performance levels seemingly sliding week on week, and Max Verstappen's future as a Red Bull driver being questioned amid rumours about a Mercedes swoop for the four-time champion.

Verstappen will be looking to bounce back, having not claimed a race victory since mid-May at the Emilia-Romagna GP, and he is now 69 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.

Lando Norris is Piastri's closest challenger, just eight points behind his team-mate after wins in Austria and Silverstone, and Piastri will be hoping to put an end to his own three-race winless run.

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