Pirelli, on Sunday, announced the tyre choices for the first four Grands Prix of the season.

For the first round of the Formula 1 World Championship in Australia Pirelli will bring the P Zero White Medium and P Zero Yellow Soft compound tyres. In Malaysia we will see the Pirelli P Zero Orange Hard and P Zero While Medium tyres. For the third and fourth rounds in Bahrain and China Pirelli will bring along the P Zero White Medium and P Zero Yellow Soft compound tyres.

Pirelli say that these tyre choices were made to reflect the characteristics of each circuit and the all-new 2014 cars, bearing in mind all the data that has been obtained from the three pre-season tests.

During the final test, Pirelli discovered that the performance gap increased between the hard and the medium compound, and the medium and the soft compound; the two combinations of tyres that will be used in the first four races of the season. This, according to Pirelli, should allow teams plenty of scope for teams to formulate different strategies to boost their race prospects.

The 2014 P Zero characteristics were in line with expectations in Bahrain. The performance of the tyres are similar to last year, but with less degradation. It seems that Pirelli have played it much safer this season with their compounds.

“The conclusion we can draw so far is that the 2014 tyres are more consistent and wear less than their predecessors, without compromising performance. We’re also meeting another of our objectives with one more step towards the reduction of ‘marbles’ on the track,” said Pirelli Motorsport Director, Paul Hembery.

“The medium and soft compounds are well matched to the expected race conditions in Australia, Bahrain and China, providing what we expect to be the right balance between performance and strategy with two to three pit stops per car. The more abrasive and hotter conditions of Malaysia have led us to nominate the hard and medium compounds there, as we did last year,” he added.