Pirelli announces compound options for Spa, Suzuka

Pirelli has released its compound options for the Belgian Grand Prix and Japanese Grand Prix, with Spa-Francorchamps getting the softest available choices while Suzuka will receive a step harder than Spa.

In a trend throughout 2017 with the new tyre constructions in Formula 1, the more durable tyres have seen Pirelli opt to go softer at circuits compared to 2016.

As a result, Pirelli will bring the ultra-soft, super-soft and soft tyres to the Belgian Grand Prix plus the super-soft, soft and medium tyres to the Japanese Grand Prix.

With Suzuka not receiving the orange hard tyres, Pirelli's toughest compound is unlikely to be seen for the rest of the season having only been selected for the Spanish Grand Prix.

As expected, the super-soft and soft tyres have been made mandatory for the Spa-Francorchamps race while the soft and mediums are mandatory at Suzuka.

As per Pirelli's tyre regulations each driver saves a set of its softest option tyres for Q3 of the nominated compounds. Each driver must have both of the mandatory sets available for the race and must use at least one of them. The teams are free to choose the remaining 10 sets, thus making up 13 sets in total for the weekend.

The Belgian Grand Prix will be hosted on the 25-27 August while the Japanese Grand Prix is on the 6-8th October.