From Tyres & Accessories/Tire Review
Those wanting to see more overtaking action in Formula One won’t be disappointed by what Pirelli has in store for the 2013 season. 
During this week’s presentation of Pirelli’s 2013 motorsport season, the Italian tiremaker detailed its new F1 tires. The company stated that this year the P Zero dry weather and Cinturato wet weather ranges have been “completely revolutionized,” having been developed “according to the wishes of the teams and the latest rules from world motorsport’s governing body, the FIA.”
Pirelli says the objective of all these innovations is to improve performance and increase thermal degradation, to ensure at least two pit stops per race and open up more strategic options for all the teams.
The most recent evolutions target the compounds, which have become softer; the structures, which are more flexible; and the shoulders, which have been reinforced. Aesthetic changes have been made to the tires’ sidewalls. More “striking” colors have been employed, and the silver previously used to denote a hard compound tire has been replaced by orange.
“The 2013 season continues the philosophy adopted by Pirelli last year in evolving the original 2011 range of Formula One tires,” commented Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery. “The goal is to continuously set new challenges for the drivers and to ensure that all the teams start the new season on a level playing field when it comes to the tires. Our 2013 range of tires mixes up the cards once more to help overtaking and ensure two to three pit stops per race.”
The Formula One tires are designed at the Pirelli laboratories in Milan and produced at a dedicated facility in Izmit, Turkey. Having passed quality control and other checks, the tires are then sent to Pirelli’s logistics hub in Didcot, from which they are shipped out to all the different circuits.
Once more, each Formula One car will have 11 sets of tires available for the weekend, made up of six sets of the harder and five sets of the softer compound. In total, Pirelli takes about 1,800 tires to each race.
Tires are allocated by FIA to each team at random, as per FIA regulations, through the use of bar codes vulcanized into the sidewall.
