While the first months of 2026 have been dominated by discussions about power units and energy management, a different topic has taken centre stage in Barcelona: tyres. Supplier Pirelli says it is not necessarily looking for that kind of attention, although given the conditions it is unavoidable.
The Barcelona Grand Prix is the hottest F1 weekend of the 2026 season so far, with track temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius on both Friday and Saturday. Add to that the fact that Pirelli has not brought the hardest compounds in its range, but instead a step softer (C2, C3 and C4), and it becomes clear that tyre degradation levels are extremely high.
