Pirelli was set to bring the C2, C3 and C4 compounds to the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix. In Formula One’s tyre naming system, those compounds represented the hard, medium and soft dry-weather choices for the event, respectively.
Pirelli has been Formula One’s exclusive tyre supplier since 2011, supplying the championship’s slick tyres as well as intermediate and full-wet tyres for changing conditions. The company selects a subset of its available dry compounds for each race, balancing the demands of the circuit with the goal of creating meaningful strategy choices.
Spa-Francorchamps is especially demanding because its long lap combines heavy braking, traction zones and fast corners that load the tyres. Its elevation changes and exposed Ardennes location can also produce different weather conditions at different parts of the circuit. That makes tyre preparation and timing particularly important.
The compound labels can cause confusion. C2, C3 and C4 are not separate tyre brands; they are adjacent hardness levels within Pirelli’s range. The event’s hard tyre was C2, its medium was C3, and its soft was C4. Teams also had access to green intermediate and blue full-wet tyres if rain made slick tyres unsuitable.