Regulations for tires have really changed a great deal in the history of F1 racing. This is to control the acceleration speed and cornering of the racing cars. Tires are the only point of contact between the track and the car. Therefore it goes without saying that any change in the regulations regarding tires would have a great impact on the performance of these cars. All angles and possibilities have to be studied thoroughly by the authorities before implementing any changes. Even changes to the side (width) of the tires created the reverse effect than to what was intended. Smaller tires not only reduce the road grip but also cut aerodynamic drag. This results in greater speeds on straight stretches and not only that sharper corners can be taken with greater ease as the car width is reduced.

Regulations history

• Before 1998: There were no rules about grooves on tires and slicks were allowed to be used.
• 1998: F1 racing came with grooves on their tires even during dry weather conditions. The rear tires have 4 grooves, while front tires have to be with 3 longitudinal grooves.
• After 1999: It became compulsory for both front and rear tires to have 4 longitudinal grooves. With this change in regulation some big tire manufacturers has to bow out of the F1 faces as they were not prepared to make such investments to remake the tires used by the racing cars.
• However, these new regulations brought forth a lot of protests from many of the F1 racing drivers including some world champion drivers like; However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, and 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve. They said that they had difficulty stopping the cars and the tires caused the cars to spin out of control, thus increasing possibilities of accidents and severe crashes.

Tire type regulations

All dry-weather tires must incorporate circumferential grooves square to the wheel arc. Each front dry-weather tire, when new, must incorporate 4 grooves which are:
- arranged symmetrically about the centre of the tire tread
- at least 14mm wide at the contact surface and which taper uniformly to a minimum of 10mm at the lower surface;
- at least 2.5mm deep across the whole lower surface
- 50mm (+/- 1.0mm) between centers.
Furthermore, the tread width of the front tires must not exceed 270mm.
d) Each rear dry-weather tire, when new, must incorporate 4 grooves which are: – arranged symmetrically about the centre of the tire tread
- at least 14mm wide at the contact surface and which taper uniformly to a minimum of 10mm at the lower surface;
- at least 2.5mm deep across the whole lower surface
- 50mm (+/- 1.0mm) between centers.
The measurements referred to above will be taken when the tire is fitted to a wheel and inflated to 1.4 bars.

A wet-weather tire is one which has been designed for use on a wet or damp track. These tires must, when new, have a contact area which does not exceed 280cm when fitted to the front of the car and 440cm when fitted to the rear. Contact areas will be measured over any square section of the tire which is normal to and symmetrical about the tire centre line and which measures 200mm x 200mm when fitted to the front of the car and 250mm x 250mm when fitted to the rear. For the purposes of establishing conformity, only void areas which are greater than 2.5mm in depth will be considered.

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