From the second race of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) season in Imola, Michelin will clearly color-code the different tire compounds in the Hypercar class.
Until the season opener in Qatar last weekend, the tire compounds were only marked by small colored dots on the sidewalls that were barely visible on TV or from the stands. That will change from the race in Imola.
When it comes to color marking, Michelin takes exactly the opposite approach to Pirelli in Formula 1. The soft tire compound is marked white, the medium tire compound is marked yellow and the hard tire compound is marked red. The rain tires from Michelin also receive a color marking – in blue.
“We chose colors that are the opposite of what we see in other championships, especially Formula 1,” says Pierre Alves, head of Michelin’s endurance program. “We based our choice on the operating window of our tires and not on the hardness of the rubber compound.”
WEC: Color codes for tire compounds contrary to Formula 1
The white marking is intended to remind you of cold, winter conditions in which the soft tire works best. Red, on the other hand, is associated with heat and, according to Michelin, is therefore the right color for the hard mixture that is used at high temperatures.
At each WEC race, the teams have two different tire compounds available. Last weekend in Qatar these were medium and hard. The only exception is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where all three tire compounds are available.
The construction of the tires has not changed compared to last year. Michelin has also refrained from developing new developments because, Lusail, Imola, Sao Paulo and Austin, there are four routes on the calendar that the hypercar class has never driven on.
“Our endurance range was developed long before the 2024 racing calendar was created and there are still some unknowns,” says Alves. “We don’t have tire-related data for some of the race tracks. But we have at least run simulations on the tracks we haven’t driven on yet.”