For the start of the 2012 Formula One World Championship season, Pirelli has nominated its slick P Zero compounds for the first three races in Australia, Malaysia and China.
For Australia and China teams will receive the P Zero White medium and the P Zero Yellow soft compounds. The P Zero Silver hard and the P Zero White medium tyre have been nominated for Malaysia.
As was the case throughout 2011, Pirelli will nominate two dry compounds for each race out of the four available – the Red supersoft, the Yellow soft, the White medium and the Silver hard – based on the characteristics of the tyre, the track and expected temperatures.
The rules stipulate that under normal circumstances each team will receive six sets of the harder compound and five sets of the softer compound for the race weekend. Pirelli will also bring its Cinturato Green intermediate tyre for damp track conditions (four sets per driver) as well as the Cinturato Blue rain tyre (three sets per driver) to each race, as particularly in Malaysia the chances of a tropical downpour are very high.