Pirelli tweaks tyre markings for 2012 F1 season

Although Pirelli has kept the four different coloured sidewalls - red (super soft), yellow (soft), white (medium) and silver (hard) - the Italian tyre maker has tweaked the design of the markings to make it easier to differentiate between the rubber.

In particular, the bands and lettering are larger - and in particular the colour of the silver on the hard has been made darker so it is easier to tell it apart from the medium.

Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said: "We have increased the bulk of the colours, and we have done a lot of work filming spinning tyres.

"The silver now is quite svelte so, when it will be used with the medium, you will see the white quite clearly. If the tyre looks black, then you know that is the hard.

"We had a lot more success with the yellow and the red, and we are now world experts in paint markings. It is not something we are going to stop, as colours are very important for product grouping."

As well as the tweaks to the dry rubber, Pirelli has totally changed its approach to the wet rubber.

Rather than adopting the P-Zero name of the slicks, Pirelli's wets in 2012 will run under the Cinturato brand that the company made famous in the 1950's.

The wet tyre will have blue sidewall brandings, while the intermediate will now be green.

As well as hoping the different coloured tyres help fans, Pirelli is to continue efforts with Formula One Management to try and improve the amount of tyre information made available to television viewers.

For 2012, Pirelli is upping access for FOM to the race data feeds that engineers have at events - with the hope being that this, which includes information like how old a tyre is, can then be shown on TV.

"They [FOM] have been working to see how they can use the data and put it on the screen," said Hembery. "We have more meetings planned about it. Bernie [Ecclestone] has recognised it, and got his people working on it. Everything is in place to make it happen, but we need to talk to FOM to make sure it happens."