F1 | How the new 2018 Pirelli tires work

After the end of the two-day test ad Abu Dhabi before saying goodbye 2017 Formula 1 season, Pirelli wanted to explain in detail the characteristics of the new tires proposed for next season, which feature the two new entries Hypersoft pink in color and the Super Hard orange in colour.

Pirelli wants the 2018 season to have an average of two pit stops per driver. In fact, the Italian company has worked to give more movement to the GPs, to allow the teams to also vary in strategy, to restore more tension and competition to the races. Mario isola is satisfied with the results of the Abu Dhabi test, which put the tires to the test by verifying the difference di performance between the different compounds in the P Zero range. The Italian is optimistic: “From the medium compound to the soft one there are 0'7 or 0'8 seconds. From soft to supersoft 0'6. From supersoft to ultrasoft more or less 0,4 seconds, while from ultra soft to hypersoft 0'9 seconds”, he explained in detail the different performance of the tyres. There is no significant data for the harder tires because they haven't run enough.

"Considering that the tire range is one grade softer and we have also included hypersoft, we have the flexibility to set ourselves the goal of having two stops. I think three may be too many, because we know it can be confusing. Maybe there are alternative strategies, maybe you can go all the way with different tires but with similar times,” continued Mario Isola, making a series of hypotheses on tire use throughout the race.

“That the difference between some compounds is less than expected is not a problem, because we can skip a compound, If we want. We could go to Melbourne with the soft, the ultrasoft and the hypersoft, for example. We can skip a compound if necessary, with the aim of creating different strategies“, continued the Italian. Isola thinks that the versatile behavior of the 2018 tires could influence the design of the new cars: “With compounds one grade softer, the teams have the possibility to create more or less aggressive cars with the tires, they can make a very fast car but which wears out the tires a lot, or they can design a gentler car to use softer tires and this is another variable,” concluded Isola.

Fabiola Granier