A slick tyre is a type of tyre that has no tread pattern, used predominantly in auto racing. By having no tread pattern the tyre presents the largest possible contact patch to the road, and maximizes traction, for any given tyre dimensions. Firestone tire A tire (US spelling) or tyre (UK spelling) is a roughly toroidal piece of (usually) rubber placed on a wheel to cushion it. ... Auto racing (also known as automobile racing or autosport) is a sport involving racing automobiles. ... Contact patch is the name applied to the area of a vehicles tire that is in contact with the road surface. ...

Since the tyre has no tread pattern, it will not deform as much as the heat is generated from racing. The reduced deformation allows the tyre to be constructed of softer compounds with out the tire overheating and blistering. During dry road conditions, slick tires provide more traction, however on wet roads, the traction of a slick tyre is severely diminished because there are no water channel groves to expel the water under the tyre.

Slick tyres are widely used in races where the the competitors can choose different tyres based on weather and road conditions, and more importantly where the racers can change tires during the race as weather and road conditions change. In Formula One, slick tyres are no longer allowed, but dry weather tyres are often still referred to as 'slicks' because they have an extremely minimal tread pattern and perform similar to true slicks in wet weather. Formula One, abbreviated to F1 and also known as Grand Prix racing, is a form of formula racing and the highest class of single-seat open-wheel auto racing. ...