planetf1.com

Hyper grippy tires, but the trade-off is limited lifespan (even less than with the Ultras).

At several tracks, the Pole Position fight will force several teams to roll the dice with them. But they will dictate a pit stop not long after the race starts (7-9 laps?). The choice might not make much sense in some cases.

Some drivers seem to get more life from the qualy tires than others. Let the debate begin...

_________________
Short-time member, Life-Long Fan from 1965 -- More than 550 Grand Prix recorded since 1982 (all but 3), and counting...

Do they not start the race on their Q2 tyres though?

Just part of the equation. Supposition is that 3 teams will contend this year. (Merc, Ferrari, RBR).. If a team anticipates qualifying in the 1st two rows covered by .2 tenths or less, would you opt to burn some hypers in Q2 to ensure you have them for the start of the race? And how long would they last with 3 laps already used? And which driver will make the remaining tread last the longest?

Further, it the top three hold true to form, that will leave only 4 slots in Q3 for the mid-pack teams to compete for in Q2. So, if Force India picks hypers in Q2, will that force Renault, McLaren, STR, ? to also use them to chance getting into Q3? Then what happens in the race?

I think the hyper-soft tires will pose some new conundrums for the teams to ponder.

_________________
Short-time member, Life-Long Fan from 1965 -- More than 550 Grand Prix recorded since 1982 (all but 3), and counting...

Cars that have been good on tyres recently are Force India,Ferrari and McLaren. McLaren ordered the most hypers for the test so should have plenty of data too but they've got a new suspension so maybe they'll suffer a bit, who knows.

Seb had plenty of tyre life left after his race stint, he went 2s quicker on his last lap but that was on mediums but still quite impressive tyre wise so they could be good again.

Bottas did admit Mercedes suffered more wear than they'd like on the softer compounds, it's a bit of a Mercedes trait seemingly. They'll be glad we aren't seeing the hypers until Canada I believe.

Force India will bring practically a new car so God knows how that'll go but they've been good on them for a number of years now, at least since 2013 I can remember Di Resta doing longer than normal stints, so I think that'll continue.

When the hypers are in use I expect most teams to use them as the delta is quite large depending on track, 0.7-1.2s I think they said. Maybe Mercedes could afford to swerve them and still qualify high enough to not get burned in traffic but no-one else will with a delta that big. (I'm hoping the gap between the top 3 and whoever is 4th will be less than 1.2s).

_________________
"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."
-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

I think Ferrari will be excellent on the hypersoft tyres, but unfortunately I don't think they will be used very often.

I heard they are calling it the street circuit tyre.

_________________
PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: Currently 12th

Wins: Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: 2nd Canada 2015, 3rd Monza 2016, Hungary 2016 and Barcelona 2015

Hs should have been introduced in Baku instead of canada imo. Some serious gains could have been highlighted there.

_________________
PF1 pick 10 2016: 7th (1 win, 4 podiums), 2017: 17th (3 podiums)
Awards: Sergio perez trophy & Podium specialist
PF1 pick 3 2015: constructors 2nd, singles 5th
Autosport Gp 2016/17 - 5th
F1 Oracle 2017: 2nd (6 wins), 2016:5th (2wins)

slightly off-topic, but is it still necessary for Pirelli to have hard tyres? which circuit actually requires hard tyres this year?

_________________
too fast to slow down

I heard that the hard tyres are just back up in case they encounter any problems with serious wear on the softer tyres.

_________________
PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: Currently 12th

Wins: Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: 2nd Canada 2015, 3rd Monza 2016, Hungary 2016 and Barcelona 2015

Pérez for obvious reasons...

I'm surprised they wouldn't bring them out at Monaco? It has infamously low tyre wear.

They will. They have just selected/announced the Canada tyres before Monaco because it is outside Europe.