Pirelli reveals when brand-new C6 tyre will make F1 debut

Pirelli has announced that its new C6 tyre is to make its F1 debut in May's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix weekend. 

For the 2025 season, a new compound has been added to Pirelli's range of options, with the C6 tyre being a step softer than the current C5 softest. 

The new compound has been tested on-track but is yet to make its official grand prix debut, which is to come at Imola across the weekend of May 16th-18th. 

Carrying the red-marked soft tyre bands, the C6 will be joined at the Italian circuit by the C5 as the medium tyre and the C4 as the hard. 

The C4-C5-C6 range will be the softest Pirelli has brought to any grand prix in the 2025 season thus far, with the Italian firm also confirming that the Sprint weekend in Miami will use the C3-C4-C5 tyres, with the C5 serving as the soft for that weekend. 

For this weekend's Bahrain GP, Pirelli has gone for the hardest possible range in its catalogue, with the C1-C2-C3 tyres serving as the hard, medium and softs, respectively. 

This is because the Sakhir International Circuit is extremely tough on tyres due to its rough track surface and heavy traction zones. 

Pirelli has also promised to be "more proactive" following criticisms of its tyres in the Japanese GP, with minimal wear and degradation leading to a relatively straight-forward one-stop race, largely devoid of overtaking action.