[9] Pirelli's eponymous calendar has been published since 1964, and has featured the contributions of many famous photographers over the years such as Helmut Newton, Steve McCurry, Peter Lindbergh, Richard Avedon, Bruce Weber, Herb Rits, and Annie Leibovitz.

Founded in Milan in 1872 by Giovanni Battista Pirelli (1848–1932), the company initially specialised in rubber and derivative processes and also made scuba diving rebreathers and dry suits used by Italian frogmen during World War II.

[15] It invested, through Olimpia, part of the resulting liquidity to become a majority shareholder in Telecom Italia in 2001,[16] maintaining this position until 2007.

[18] In 2005, Pirelli sold its Cables, Energy Systems and Telecommunications assets to Goldman Sachs[19] and the newly formed company was named Prysmian.

In March 2015, it was announced that Pirelli shareholders had accepted a €7.1 billion bid from ChemChina, together with Camfin and LTI, for the company.

[26] In September 2017, the company announced its intentions to sell up to 40 per cent of its equity capital in an initial public offering as it plans to return to the Milan stock exchange in October.

The calendar also features the work of fashion photographers, including Richard Avedon, Peter Lindbergh, Annie Leibovitz, and Patrick Demarchelier.

"Power is nothing without control" was the well-known slogan of Pirelli Tyre Company, and was featured in numerous television and print advertisements.

Pirelli previously appeared as a sponsor on the shirts of the Maltese football club Valletta for a short time.

In reference to Brazil striker Ronaldo’s usual goal celebration of both arms outstretched, Pirelli ran a 1998 commercial in which he replaced the figure of Christ from the Christ the Redeemer statue that towers over his home city of Rio de Janeiro while in an Inter Milan strip.

[34] Pirelli's sponsorship of football teams is not limited to Europe, South America is a key market and as a result, successful clubs have also been sponsored by the tyre company.

[36] Pirelli has also been a sponsor of rally and the late gymkhana driver Ken Block's Hoonigan Racing Division since 2010.

[40][41] Pirelli was the official tyre partner and supplier of the World Rally Championship from 2008 to 2010 until the company withdrew to focus on its Formula One commitments.

Pirelli stepped up their involvement in the championship when they signed a deal to supply tyres to all Junior WRC participants, with its champions receiving a Ford Fiesta R5 with free tyres, fuel and free rally registration package for the next season's World Rally Championship-2.

Pirelli has been the sole tyre supplier in Formula One since 2011 following Bridgestone's decision to withdraw from the role at the end of 2010.

Since the 2019 season, Pirelli has used three colours to identify its dry-weather P Zero tyres: white for hard, yellow for medium, and red for soft.

At the start of Pirelli's Formula One tenure in 2011, the company was given the technically challenging task of designing tyres that degraded rapidly in order to promote more pit stops and overtaking,[47] with the aim of making the races more exciting and entertaining.

Pirelli has faced controversy on a number of occasions in Formula One, especially during the 2013 British Grand Prix, which featured multiple tyre failures.

Pirelli subsequently changed the construction of the tyres to prevent further incidents, switching to Kevlar belts.

The faster cornering speeds as a result of this change imposed significantly increased loads on the tyres.

Pirelli was consequently asked to produce tyres with less degradation that were more resistant to overheating, for the fastest cars in Formula One history.

[50] A far-reaching alteration to the Formula One technical regulations for 2022, covering every aspect of the car, prompted another significant change to the tyres.