Formula One teams will not have a clear understanding of Pirelli’s 2018 tyre range until midseason, according to Pirelli sporting director Mario Isola. The official Formula One supplier has expanded its tyre range with the addition of two extra compounds – the Superhard and Hypersoft – at either end of its 2018 spectrum. The move has effectively made this season’s F1 tyres two steps softer compared to last year, after the Italian manufacturer was accused of going too conservative with its previous compound constructions.
The change should force teams away from the single mandatory pit stop seen in recent years and throw open strategy options, with the aim of improving the show by adding excitement and unpredictability. When asked if limited running might throw up surprises in early rounds, Isola Mario replied: “I am sure there are some details we do not know because the compounds are more or less all new, except for the medium. That is the soft coming from last year.
“We already designed the soft, supersoft, ultrasoft and the hypersoft is completely new. We have a test last year in Abu Dhabi, we have a test here but you cannot say that you know any detail of any compound with two tests. The hyper soft is a compound that we need to understand where we use it. Also it was very important to confirm the delta lap time here because in Abu Dhabi we had completely different conditions, different circuit layout and different circuit roughness. So we have to understand and collect more data. I think that we start to really know the compounds by mid-season, not before. Before mid-season the learning process is quite a step in curve.” – Pirelli sporting director Mario Isola concluded, as reported by the British media
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