Saudi Arabian GP 2025: Why Pirelli's Tyre Choices Could Play Key Role in Deciding The F1 Race Winner

The Saudi Arabian GP 2025 could be set to become one of the most unpredictable Formula 1 races of the 2025 season due to the tyre choices that were made by F1's tyre supplier Pirelli. 

Overtaking at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit has been limited and the 2024 edition of the race saw just one racer opt for a strategy that went beyond the traditional one-stopper. 

The Japanese GP 2025 saw a similar pattern and was criticised as a race for being too processional, with on-track overtaking being largely limited. 

However, Pirelli have responded to that and brought a softer tyre compound to the race - which could result in the race being a two-stop one for all teams. 

More Tyre Degradation = Better Races?

For this year, the C5 tyre compound is the softest tyre for the race as opposed to the C4 of last year. 

The higher the number of the compound, the softer the tyre is - which means the chances of degradation are much higer. 

It is something that Mercedes driver George Russell, who qualified P3 behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, welcomed as a good move. 

"The medium tyre this year was last year’s Soft, which I think only one driver used in the whole race. That’s kind of what we want. We saw the tyres were too hard in Japan. We’ve all pushed to have softer tyres," Russell said after qualifying. 

Work to Do For All F1 Teams

The Japanese GP saw most team strategists take the weekend off in a figurative sense as the race was a boring one-stop race. 

But with tyre degradation expected to play a key role in Jeddah, it means the strategy avenues are open. 

There will be teams who may try and start on the hard and bank on a one-stop, but most will likely stop at least twice - meaning more chances for overtaking.