Ahead of the season-opening race in Melbourne, Formula One’s sole tyre supplier Pirelli has announced that it will supply teams with the same compounds it brought to Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit last year.
The track surface has not changed since it was renewed in 2022 and is not too harsh on tyres. The only modification to the track layout, which features some sections made up of roads usually open to normal traffic, comes at turns 6 and 7 where the barriers and kerbs have been modified, as a precautionary measure to avoid a repetition of some past accidents in this section. 5.278 kilometres long, the circuit combines fast straights with low to medium speed technical corners and some heavy braking points.
Summer is sliding into autumn at this time of year in Australia and the weather can be very changeable, with big swings in temperature from one day to the next and rain has been known to put in an appearance.
Rain is expected to dominate much of Sunday. That could lead to the new Full Wet making its debut: modifications include a new tread design to reduce movement of the blocks which can lead to overheating, while the compound used is closer to that found in the Intermediate, which could give it a wider operating window in crossover conditions.
