What are the options available for each driver in the F1 Australian Grand Prix?
The first Grand Prix of the 2025 Formula 1 season begins in a few short hours, with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row for McLaren, who are looking to defend their Constructors’ Championship from a season ago. As for Norris, who starts in pole position, this is a big first step towards challenging for the Drivers’ title.
But we are a long way away from crowning Norris or the Woking-based operation champions.
Behind the McLaren duo are several drivers who showed true pace during qualifying, and with wet weather in the forecast there is also the potential for chaos to unfold on Sunday.
Before the lights go out, what tires do each driver have available for the Australian Grand Prix, and what are the potential strategies? Let’s dive in.
What tires do each driver have for the Australian Grand Prix?
According to Pirelli, the exclusive tire supplier for the Australian Grand Prix, here are the available tires for each driver in Sunday’s main event:
Not reflected in this table are the wet tire options for each driver. During the 2025 F1 season drivers have four sets of the green-walled intermediate tires, and three sets of the blue-walled full wet tires for a given weekend.
Rain is expected during the day Sunday in Melbourne, with current forecasts calling for showers during the 4:00 p.m. hour local time. Lights go out at 3:00 p.m. local time.
What are the tire strategy options for the Australian Grand Prix?
Here is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
According to Pirelli the most likely tire strategy for the Australian Grand Prix is a two-stop race, such as the one Carlos Sainz Jr. used last year to win. Sainz began on the medium compound, pitted on Lap 16 to bolt on a set of hards, and then pitted again on Lap 41 to finish the race on another set of hards.
Teams could also employ a two-stop strategy, but starting on a set of softs to try and gain track position at the outset, before going hard-hard to finish the race.
A third two-stop strategy that teams could use? A mix of all three compounds, starting on the softs before going to the medium, and then the hard to finish the race.
However, a one-stop strategy is possible. According to Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Director of Motorsport, the low level of graining the teams have seen this week could see a driver or two gamble on a one-stopper. “[B]ased on the much lower level of graining compared to previous years, that we have seen over the past two days, the one-stop could be the quickest solution featuring the Medium and Hard,” said Isola in Pirelli’s post-qualifying report. “The C3 and C4 have both shown almost zero degradation with very similar performance levels.”
Teams looking to roll the dice on a one-stop could start out on the mediums and make the switch to the hard compound around Lap 20 to 26. You might also see some of the drivers at the back of the grid — if the race begins in dry conditions — begin on the hards and run long, hoping for intervention from a safety car. Teams with two fresh sets of hards like Sauber with Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, or Haas with Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, could try that strategy.
Last year Fernando Alonso and Hülkenberg were the only two drivers to begin on the hards, with Alonso starting in P10 and Hülkenberg down in P16.
Here are the main possible tire strategies as outlined by Pirelli:
However, there is another consideration, and that is the rain. With wet weather in the forecast, there is the potential for conditions to dictate the strategy in a few different ways.
The first potential scenario is an entirely wet race, which would see teams utilizing the intermediates and the full wets for the entire Australian Grand Prix.
In the second scenario, the showers do not come into play and the Australian Grand Prix takes place in entirely dry conditions. This could open the door to a one-stop strategy but as Isola notes, if there is rain earlier in the day it could wash away the track surface of any accumulated rubber, leading to higher levels of tire degradation and therefore, the need for a two-stop strategy.
“[E]ven if the race is run entirely in the dry, we need to consider the possibility that the track surface condition will have been reset because of earlier rain and lower temperatures, conditions that are more likely to lead to graining,” said Isola. “In this case, the two-stop could be the most popular option, once again featuring the Medium and Hard.”
Then there is the third scenario, and the most chaotic of the three: A race run in mixed conditions, where drivers perhaps begin on intermediates or the full wets before making the switch — and one of the tougher calls in F1 — to slicks.
“The third scenario is a race run in mixed conditions, starting on a wet or damp track requiring intermediate tires, prior to a switch to slicks. In this case, the drivers could try to extend the Intermediate stint as much as possible before switching to the Hard,” said Isola. “The Soft could only come into play if the switch to slicks occurred in the closing stages.
“Whatever happens, it looks like being a fun afternoon!”
It absolutely does.
