Pirelli Stumped by C6 Tyre Failures in Imola GP Qualifying

Pirelli couldn’t find answers after a puzzling debut of its new C6 tyre in Formula 1 qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Teams and drivers arrived at Imola expecting the fresh soft compound to deliver stronger grip, especially after Friday’s practice sessions suggested a clear step up over the older C5 rubber.

Data from those runs indicated potential lap time gains of as much as 0.5 seconds—a bigger margin than the 0.2 to 0.3 seconds predicted based on simulations. Yet that excitement faded on Saturday.

When it mattered most in qualifying, the C6 failed to live up to its practice promise. Most competitors, including both Aston Martins and Mercedes driver George Russell, set their quickest laps on the C5, not the new C6.

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Many found that the C6’s performance dropped away after just a single fast lap, unless the tyre’s usage was managed with unusual caution. This unusual behavior led Mercedes to shift Russell onto the C5 for his decisive Q3 run.

That put a dent in the team’s tyre strategy for Sunday’s race, since it meant sacrificing a set usually reserved for the main event. Pirelli’s racing boss Mario Isola addressed the issue before engineers had fully reviewed all the data.

He shared that most drivers reported more understeer on Saturday, a shift from Friday when rear grip had been the main limit. Track conditions hardly changed between days.

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There was no rain, and the weather was steady, with wind direction the only notable shift. Isola explained that a very soft compound like the C6 can peak sharply, making it harder for drivers to extract its best performance. For more on tyre compounds and their behavior, refer to this FIA technical guide.

He also said that a used set of C6s, having already gone through a heat cycle, tended to produce slower but more predictable laps compared to new tyres. Tyre pressures were tweaked overnight, with Pirelli lowering the minimum requirement at the rear by 1 psi.

But this small change alone couldn’t explain the sudden surge in understeer that drivers described. Teams sometimes set up their cars with extra understeer to protect the rear tyres for the race, especially at Imola where a long pit lane makes a one-stop plan attractive.

On this unfamiliar new rubber, though, that setup may have gone further than expected, catching out both engineers and drivers. Despite these complications, Pirelli plans to continue with its rollout of the C6 at future races.

The company hopes it can learn from the Imola experience and refine teams’ understanding of the compound. Changes to the tyre lineup can’t be made mid-season by regulation, so the focus will be on adapting strategies to the tools already available. For further insights into F1 tyre regulations, visit the official Formula 1 sporting regulations.

Imola’s demanding surface and layout made it a tough testing ground for the new compound. The unexpected performance swing from Friday to Saturday left Pirelli and teams with plenty of questions and few easy answers.

As the championship moves forward, everyone will watch closely to see if the C6 can be tamed elsewhere on the calendar or if Imola’s problems reappear at the next venue. For a deeper dive into track characteristics and their impact on tyre performance, check out this analysis by Motorsport Engineering Research.

Daniel Miller

Daniel Miller reports on Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends with race-day analysis, team-radio highlights, and point-standings updates. He explains power-unit upgrades, aerodynamic developments, and driver rivalries in straightforward, SEO-friendly language for a global F1 audience.