Strategy
F1 tyres and race strategy explained: compounds, pit stops and the undercut
A grand prix is rarely won by the fastest car alone. Choosing when to stop and which tyres to fit can gain or lose several places, and it's the part of the race fans can follow most closely.
The compounds
Pirelli supplies every team. For 2026 it brought five dry compounds, numbered C1 (the hardest) to C5 (the softest), on slightly narrower 18-inch wheels than before. At each race Pirelli picks three compounds from that range, usually neighbouring ones, and labels them for that weekend:
| Tyre | Sidewall | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Soft | Red | Fastest over one lap, but wears and overheats quickest |
| Medium | Yellow | The all-rounder, often the race tyre |
| Hard | White | Slowest at first, but lasts longest |
| Intermediate | Green | Damp tracks and light rain |
| Full wet | Blue | Heavy rain and standing water |
So a "soft" at one track can be the same rubber as a "medium" at another. The labels are relative to that weekend's choice.
The rule that forces a stop
In a dry race, every driver must use at least two different dry compounds. That means at least one pit stop. Monaco is the exception: drivers there must use at least three sets of tyres, so two stops. The rule doesn't apply if the race is run on intermediate or wet tyres. Since the top ten no longer have to start on the tyres they used in Q2, everyone is free to choose their starting tyre.
Why drivers stop when they do
A pit stop costs roughly 20 seconds at most tracks: the stationary time is only two to three seconds, but driving down the pit lane at the speed limit costs much more than the lap on track. A team only stops when the new tyres will win that time back. That depends on degradation: how much slower the tyres get each lap as they wear and lose grip. High degradation tracks push teams towards two or even three stops; on smooth, cool tracks one stop is usually best.
The undercut and the overcut
The undercut is the most common way to pass in the pits. If you're stuck behind a rival, you stop first. On fresh tyres you lap much faster than the rival on worn ones, so when they stop a lap or two later, you've jumped ahead.
The overcut is the opposite: stay out longer. It works when new tyres take a few laps to warm up, or when the car that stopped first comes out into traffic. It's also why teams sometimes respond to a rival's stop by staying out instead of covering it.
Safety cars change everything
When the safety car or virtual safety car slows the field, a pit stop costs far less time, so you'll often see a rush of cars into the pits the moment it's deployed. A driver who has just stopped before a safety car can lose a lot. A driver who stops under it gets a "cheap" stop.
How to read our tyre strategy chart
Every race report from 2023 onwards has a Tyre strategy tab. Each row is a driver in finishing order, and each coloured bar is a stint, in the colours above, running from the lap they started on those tyres to the lap they came in. A long first bar on the hards next to a short one on the softs shows two different plans. Gaps between bars are pit stops.
See every driver's tyre strategy at the Singapore Grand Prix.
