Formula 1 fans will still be able to learn the exact tyre compounds being used at each race when a simplified naming system is introduced next year, according to Pirelli.

The sport’s official tyre supplier has been requested to simplify the naming system for its compounds for the 2019 F1 season. The selections for each race will be referred to simply as ‘hard’, ‘medium’, and ‘soft’.

However the manufacturer’s sporting director Mario Isola confirmed in response to a question from RaceFans that it will ensure fans who choose to can find out which name refers to which exact compound, such as hyper-soft or super-soft, for each race.

“We will tell you which is the compound we nominate for each race because obviously we are not going to race with the [same] three compounds everywhere,” said Isola. “We will find a way to give you the information but for spectators that are not really interested in technical stuff they will learn three colours, three names and that’s all.”

The changes proposed for next year could mean the same tyre compound is referred to by different names and colours at difference races (see below). This presents Pirelli with some problems to solve, says Isola.

“We will have different compounds associated to the same colour and when we have the tyres returning to the warehouse… we must be 100% sure we don’t mix [them]. We need to find a solution to avoid any minimal risk to mix the tyres.

“Also we need to understand how to manage collective testing. Now we are using all different colours, tomorrow what do we do? When they have all the compounds available, five or six, or whatever number it will be, which system do we use to recognise?”

The current hard, medium and soft tyres are coloured blue, white and yellow respectively. The choice of colours for next year has not been decided yet.

“I will have another meeting with FOM and with the people from television to understand which are the three colours that are more visible. Somebody told me on television it’s difficult to recognise white from yellow.”

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How the 2018 tyre selections would look under the new system

Under the proposal for 2019 the same tyre compound could have three different names during the course of the championship. For example, based on this year’s tyre selections so far, the ‘soft’ tyre would be referred to as ‘hard’ at Melbourne, ‘medium’ at Catalunya and ‘soft’ at Silverstone:

Melbourne Hard (Soft compound) Medium (Super-soft compound) Soft (Ultra-soft compound) Bahrain Hard (Medium compound) Medium (Soft compound) Soft (Super-soft compound) Shanghai Hard (Medium compound) Medium (Soft compound) Soft (Ultra-soft compound) Baku Hard (Soft compound) Medium (Super-soft compound) Soft (Ultra-soft compound) Catalunya Hard (Medium compound) Medium (Soft compound) Soft (Super-soft compound) Monte-Carlo Hard (Super-soft compound) Medium (Ultra-soft compound) Soft (Hyper-soft compound) Montreal Hard (Super-soft compound) Medium (Ultra-soft compound) Soft (Hyper-soft compound) Paul Ricard Hard (Soft compound) Medium (Super-soft compound) Soft (Ultra-soft compound) Red Bull Ring Hard (Soft compound) Medium (Super-soft compound) Soft (Ultra-soft compound) Silverstone Hard (Hard compound) Medium (Medium compound) Soft (Soft compound) Hockenheimring Hard (Medium compound) Medium (Soft compound) Soft (Ultra-soft compound) Hungaroring Hard (Medium compound) Medium (Soft compound) Soft (Ultra-soft compound) Spa-Francorchamps Hard (Medium compound) Medium (Soft compound) Soft (Super-soft compound) Monza Hard (Medium compound) Medium (Soft compound) Soft (Super-soft compound) Singapore Hard (Soft compound) Medium (Ultra-soft compound) Soft (Hyper-soft compound) Sochi Hard (Super-soft compound) Medium (Ultra-soft compound) Soft (Hyper-soft compound) Suzuka Hard (Medium compound) Medium (Soft compound) Soft (Super-soft compound) Circuit of the Americas Hard (Soft compound) Medium (Super-soft compound) Soft (Ultra-soft compound) Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Hard (Super-soft compound) Medium (Ultra-soft compound) Soft (Hyper-soft compound)

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2018 F1 season