Michelin to Introduce Color Markings for Hypercar Tires

Image: Michelin

Michelin will add more prominent color markings to its lineup of Hypercar class tires in the FIA World Endurance Championship to help better identify teams’ tire strategies.

Set to fully debut from the second round of the season at Imola, four distinctive colors will be marked on the sidewalls of the tires, white for soft, yellow for medium and red for the hard compound.

Additionally, Michelin’s wet-weather compound will be marked in blue.

Previously, the different compounds were identified with the same color patterns but with a small circle on the sidewall, which will continue to be used in this weekend’s season-opening Qatar 1812KM.

“We selected colors that are the opposite to what we see in other championships, particularly Formula 1,” said Michelin’s endurance racing program manager Pierre Alves.

“We based our choice on our tires’ respective operating windows rather than the hardness of their rubber compound.”

White (soft compound): White symbolizes cold, wintry weather and this compound – the softest in the range – is the best-suited to cooler conditions.

Yellow (medium compound): The choice of yellow for the medium compound is indicative of the wide temperature window this compound covers.

Red (hard compound): Red is readily associated with heat. When the track temperature is high, the most appropriate compound to use is the hardest one.

Blue (rain tire): Blue is a color commonly associated with water. It has also been chosen for the wet-weather tyres used by the GT3 cars.

Hypercar class teams have the choice between two slick compounds over the course of each WEC event, with the exception of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where all three compounds will be made available.

This weekend’s ten-hour enduro in Qatar sees the medium and hard tires in use.

Michelin has remained with the same tire constructions for this year, with new tires under development for 2025.

“At every race, our partner teams will be able to benefit from the support and expert guidance of our dedicated technical advisors,” said Alves.

“Our endurance range was developed long before the 2024 calendar took shape, and there remain a number of unknowns.

“We have no existing tire-related data for some of the circuits, which means our partners will require our input there.

“That said, at those tracks where we have not previously run, we have at least conducted simulations.

“Using the information collected during testing, our technicians will be able to pinpoint the optimum windows for each tyre in order to address the specific demands made by the track surface, cars and prevailing weather.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John