Pirelli reveals F1 team tyre choices for the upcoming German Grand Prix

Pirelli has revealed the tyre combinations each Formula 1 team will take to the German Grand Prix next weekend and has shed some light on 2017 tyre philosophy, when the chassis and tyres will be significantly upgraded.

The Italian company will bring its supersoft, soft and medium tyres to the race at Hockenheim, which returns to the calendar for the first time since 2014.

Mercedes and Ferrari differ slightly in their approach as the German team opts for one set of mediums, four softs and eight supersofts, while the Scuderia has picked one more set of the supersofts over the yellow-striped softs.

Red Bull mirrors Mercedes’ choice, while Willliams has picked five sets of softs and seven supersofts for use over the weekend at the 2.842-mile circuit.

Force India is the only real outlier, as the Silverstone-based team has decided to bring three sets of medium tyres, four softs and just six supersofts.

Lap record in Hungary?

Ahead of this weekend’s race in Hungary, the track has been resurfaced as part of the Hungarian government’s commitment to improving the Hungaroring circuit.

Pirelli, and its motorsport boss Paul Hembery, believe that the new surface, which is coupled with changes to the track’s kerbs, means the Budapest track’s longstanding lap record could well be threatened this weekend.

Hembery said: "The track has been completely resurfaced, and we saw in Austria that this had quite a profound influence as well: we will need to see if this is case in Hungary too, so free practice will be very important.”

A Pirelli statement added: "The track has been entirely resurfaced and the circuit infrastructure upgraded this year. There is also some new kerbing and run-off areas while the effect of the resurfacing has additionally been to smooth out some of the bumps. This should culminate in faster lap times."

2017 F1 tyres “will have much less degradation”

Looking further ahead, the 2017 Pirelli tyres, which will be trialled by Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull over the course of the rest of 2016, will be much more durable than the rubber used in recent seasons according to Hembery.

Speaking to F1’s official website, the Briton explained that the new tyres would have a “wider operating window” and he expects laptimes to be significantly quicker next season.

He said: “We will have much less degradation in 2017 and tyres will – if we achieve what we are trying to achieve – have a wider operating window.

“That in itself will take away some level of strategy – or at least variations between teams. Having said that, we will still try to achieve some level of degradation!

“What we definitely will see is faster cars. We expect a three to four second improvement in performance, which is clearly quite substantial.

“So the tyres will be working very hard and the compounds will be working hard – and that will cause degradation, so we will still have a good level of strategy.”

What do you make of the tyre choices for the German Grand Prix? And do you welcome the news F1 tyres may be more durable in 2017? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below or head over to the JAonF1 Facebook page for more discussion.