Formula 1 drivers will be required to use specific tyre compounds during different stages of qualifying in a trial of a new format next year.
The change to next year’s rules is detailed in updated sporting regulations for the current season issued by the FIA.
The F1 Commission agreed earlier this week to trial a reduction in the total number of tyre sets permitted for a race weekend from 13 to 11. This will take place at two races next year where a ‘Revised Qualifying Format’ is to be used.
Drivers will receive half as many soft compound tyres for these events as usual – four instead of eight. The allocations of medium and hard tyres will increase by one each, to four and three respectively. However drivers will be required to use one of each of these compounds during the regular, three-stage qualifying session.
Each driver will only be permitted to run on the hardest compound of dry tyres in Q1. The medium compound will be mandatory in Q2 and those who reach Q3 may only use the soft tyres.
In a statement released after the F1 Commission meeting on Tuesday, the FIA noted that a test run of reduced tyres compounds at two race weekends in the 2023 season would be carried out “to evaluate the impact of the reduction in tyre allocation on track-running, with the overall intention to move to more sustainable use of tyres in the future.”
Among the rules changes approved for this current season include scrapping the maximum number of tyre testing days of 30 permitted in the season, as well as clarifications over the use of so-called ‘mule cars’ and what the FIA will recognise as ‘genuine car damage’ sustained in incidents for rules purposes.
The Commission also discussed expanding the number of sprint races to six next year, but the FIA is yet to grant its approval for the change. The first edition of the 2023 F1 sporting regulations has yet to be published.
Revised 2023 F1 driver tyre allocations
TyreRevised Qualifying FormatQualifyingSprint…