For the start of the 2013 Formula One World Championship season, Pirelli has nominated its slick P Zero compounds for the first four races in Australia, Malaysia, China and Bahrain.

In Australia, the P Zero White medium and P Zero Red supersoft tires will be nominated: the first time that Pirelli has nominated the softest compound in the range for Melbourne. The full step in the compound choice should ensure a performance gap between the cars that allows strategy to come into play.

The choice of the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium for Malaysia – the two hardest tires in the range – will cater for the high temperatures and abrasive surface that is a well-known characteristic of the Far Eastern track.

The P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft tires are nominated for China: the best choice for the comparatively high degradation expected as a result of the demanding track layout, which leads to close racing.

Like Australia, Bahrain has a brand new nomination this year compared to last year: P Zero Orange hard and P Zero Yellow soft. This is designed to ensure plenty of speed in qualifying coupled with the durability needed for the race, which is again often held in high temperatures.

The rules stipulate that under normal circumstances each team will receive six sets of the harder compound and five sets of the softer compound for the race weekend. Pirelli will also bring its Cinturato Green intermediate tire for damp track conditions (four sets per driver) as well as the Cinturato Blue rain tire (three sets per driver) to each race.

 THE TIRE CHOICES SO FAR: