Every grand prix weekend you may hear phrases and terminology being thrown around by commentators and reporters, that you may not understand.
But this article seeks to explain some of those.
Tyre Compounds:
At a 2025 Formula 1 Grand Prix the tyre suppliers, Pirelli, bring three different tyre compounds within a wider multi-compound range. Labelled soft, medium and hard at a race, they range from the softest C6 tyre and the hardest C0.
During a dry race, different types of compounds must be used by a driver. But during a wet race, there are intermediate and extreme wet tyres also ready to be used.
📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Undercut:
Often triggered by a car that is quicker than the one ahead, but is unable to get overtake on-track, this move sees them pit before the leading competitor so that they can switch to fresher and younger tyres.
These will give the driver more grip on their out lap, which should mean that they go quicker. So that by the time the leader in the battle pits, the chasing driver gets ahead.
Overcut:
While the undercut is a more commonly used strategic decision, the overcut can also work. Drivers who pit first in a battle, and are perhaps triggering the undercut, may be slowed by various factors on their out laps.
For instance it may be a struggle to get the tyres up to temperature. This could make them slower than rivals who are an older tyres, who have heat in their rubber, yielding greater grip.
Furthermore, drivers who have pitted to new tyres will be cautious to look after their new ones, or else they could stress it very early on and making them slower the longer their tyre stint goes on.
But there is also the variable of other cars. If following a competitor, they may be difficult to pass and will be slowed down. It could also mean that the tyre is greatly exposed to overheating, while following in the turbulent air of the car ahead, which also hurts the competitive longevity of the tyres.
Meanwhile, the driver on older tyres may not have the peak tyre grip of someone who has not pitted, but has nobody in front to slow them down and is not struggling to build up tyre temperature.
This would mean that once they also pit, they re-emerge ahead of the driver they already were leading, or have overtaken the previous leader.
'Scrubbed Set':
During qualifying and pit stops, drivers may switch to a 'scrubbed set' tyre. This is a compound that has already been used, but for a limited time.
That means it does not have the absolute peak levels of grip that a completely new tyre has, but its degradation is limited. Its exact amount of degradation is dependent upon the amount of load put through the tyre, which comes down to the track characteristics and amount of laps and corners driven.
Drivers may be forced to switch to such a set during qualifying, because their tyre allocation is limited. But drivers may do so in the grand prix, in order to overcome the struggles of getting the tyres up to competitive temperature.
Furthermore, tyres that have already been slightly used can provide more consistent levels of grip. This builds confidence within the drivers.
Tyre Delta:
As a result of an overcut, a driver will be on a younger tyre that another. This means that, if their management is correct, the tyre will be able to last longer and will be competitive for longer.
The larger the tyre delta, the difference in peak grip between two given drivers. That should mean that, if the driver behind has a larger tyre delta, overtaking should be easier.