Here's What Happens To F1 Tires After A Race

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The "Formula" successful Formula 1 racing is simply a cautiously crafted 340-page archive pinch chopped sections for Technical, Sporting, and Financial considerations – astatine slightest for this twelvemonth anyway. The FIA reviews its norm book annually successful hopes of continually improving 1 of nan world's most-popular bid of sporting events. All of which is to get to nan constituent that F1 takes its rules beautiful seriously, and that extends to its rules astir nan cars' tires. Those rules use to tires some earlier and instantly aft a race, erstwhile they're collected by Pirelli, nan existent sole supplier of tires for F1.

For example, not only do each cars person to travel rules astir everyone utilizing nan aforesaid tires, but they're besides constricted to starting each emblematic title play pinch 20 sets of them. When you see location are 10 teams connected nan grid for each race, and 24 races to nan season, that useful retired to astir 4,800 tires a year. Keep successful mind, also, that Cadillac is joining nan bid arsenic nan first American mill constructor successful 2026, truthful they'll request their tires, too.

It's a batch of rubber from a root that's becoming much and much well-recognized for its wellness hazards. Looking only astatine tyre dust, nan particles that travel disconnected tires during driving, which has been called "the DDT of our generation." With that successful mind, nan short reply to what happens to each those tires is that they get recycled.

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Pirelli really collects each nan tires from nan title weekend, sloppy of whether they're utilized aliases not, for 2 cardinal reasons. First, earlier recycling them, nan company's engineers measure them to spot really good they performed. Pirelli relies connected that data, on pinch onboard telemetry from during nan race, for some early improvements and to thief prime nan circumstantial rubber compounds offered for each title — a determination that Pirelli tin make arsenic adjacent arsenic 2 weeks earlier an event. In fact, this aforesaid information is utilized by Pirelli to thief fine-tune its tires for nan nationalist arsenic well.

To beryllium clear, erstwhile Pirelli provides tires for an F1 title weekend, they're nan aforesaid tires but tin beryllium made from different compounds. That is, they're made of different combinations of rubber and different materials pinch different capacity characteristics — immoderate of which are surprisingly awesome for off-roading. Pirelli has six compounds successful full for nan 2025 F1 season, and picks 3 for each title weekend. The individual teams tin past take which of those 3 compounds to put connected their cars, though they person to usage astatine slightest two.

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When Pirelli's professionals are done pinch them, those F1 tires are past shipped to England, wherever they're shredded and converted to mini rubber pellets. The pellets are yet burned nether utmost power arsenic tire-derived substance to powerfulness actual factories. No, burning tires doesn't sound each that healthy, but a study successful Outlook elaborate Pirelli's claims that recycling nan pellets this measurement only results successful "environmentally friendly" emissions and "non-poisonous good ash." Of course, bitumen is an admitted by-product of nan process, but that tin beryllium utilized pinch asphalt for roofing and roads.

Another greenish facet of F1 tires has to do pinch really they're created. In 2024, Pirelli introduced F1 tires made pinch much sustainable rubber, earning certification from nan Forest Stewardship Council, a nonprofit statement that supports sustainable forestry astir nan world. Notably, this includes a committedness to supporting quality rights, promoting biodiversity, and taking into relationship nan afloat proviso concatenation for wood products.