Pirelli will simply use the hard, medium and soft naming system for each tyre compound at the races in 2019, with only three colours to designate the types of slick rubber.
The change comes at the request of the FIA and Liberty Media, who believe the current names, ranging from Hypersoft to Superhard is too complex for casual Formula 1 fans to understand.
“We will tell you which is the compound we nominate for each race because obviously, we are not going to race with the [same] three compounds everywhere,” said Mario Isola, Pirelli’s sporting director.
“We will find a way to give you the information but for spectators that are not really interested in technical stuff they will learn three colours, three names and that’s all.”
While easier for fans, the change could cause confusion at the factory, as the same tyre compound will feature different colours at different races. For example, this year the Supersoft would have carried the title of soft, medium and hard at least once.
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Another factor to consider is which of the current colours should be used.
“I will have another meeting with FOM and with the people from television to understand which are the three colours that are more visible,” Isola said. “Somebody told me on television it’s difficult to recognise white from yellow.”