Pirelli confirms ultra soft tyre debut for Monaco

2016 Monaco Grand Prix

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Formula One drivers will use Pirelli’s new ultra soft tyres for the first time at the Monaco Grand Prix, the sport’s official tyre supplier has confirmed.

Drivers will be required to use the new compound, the softest in Pirelli’s range, during Q3.

Drivers must keep at least one set of the soft and super-soft tyres available to be used during the race.

2016 tyre nominations so far

Circuit2016 Q32016 Option2016 Prime2015 Option2015 Prime
MelbourneSuper-softSoftMediumSoftMedium
BahrainSuper-softSoftMediumSoftMedium
ShanghaiSuper-softSoftMediumSoftMedium
SochiSuper-softSoftMediumSuper-softSoft
CatalunyaSoftMediumHardMediumHard
MontrealUltra-softSuper-softSoftSuper-softSoft
MontrealUltra-softSuper-softSoftSuper-softSoft
BakuSuper-softSoftMediumNo raceNo race

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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31 comments on “Pirelli confirms ultra soft tyre debut for Monaco”

  1. Opportunity for a one stop, for the man who captures pole… #barca

  2. Out of all the terrible decisions F1 has made over the past 1.5 years or so, the decision to bring 3 tyres to a race weekend instead of 2 has been one of the best. With that being said, the rule about the link between qualifying and race tyres should still be scrapped.

    1. I don’t agree with your second point. I like how the drivers at the front are basically forced to start on the softest compound, with those behind having a freer strategy choice. If all drivers could choose which tyre they start on, i’m sure most would do one stopper Soft then Medium stints. Which is boring.

  3. I reckon Shanghai will probably be the race where the new tyre rule will be least effective, no way anyone would want to even consider running the SS tyres there in the race given how quickly the soft tyres tend to get destroyed

    1. They may will have no other option but to use SS in Q2 to get to Q3.

      1. ooh i like it! ;D

      2. it will be interesting indeed because both Ferrari and Mercedes will want to try and get into Q3 on Softs and just avoid SS, the elimination quali as much as we ALL hate it could actually be interesting there if they try softs and it backfires. As for everyone who uses SS and gets into Q3 chances are they’ll just pit after 3 or 4 laps (Won’t be the first time that has happened)

  4. And beyond Canada it will most likely not be seen again…

    1. @strontium Singapore perhaps. The supersoft/soft/medium might just be a bit too conservative for Singapore, which has tended to be an easy 2 stop race with Supersofts and Softs. But then again, so was Melbourne.

    2. @strontium, I think that Pirelli have indicated it could be used in Sochi given the low abrasiveness of the track surface, and it could possibly be used in Singapore as well.

      1. Anon, Pirelli has already announced which tyres will be available for Sochi. It’s in the article!

  5. Off topic but I’m still wondering what the ring inside the rim is. I guess it’s for strenght?

  6. Will we have 2 Canadian GPs ? )

    1. not bad idea!

    2. Oh that’d be beautiful…. put a race in British Columbia somewhere outside Vancouver. It’d be the Canadian version of Spa

  7. Can’t wait they ll be flying

  8. Ultrasoft for Monaco? The race everyone goes to one stop? I don’t understand F1 anymore.

    1. Frankly, it’s you I’m not understanding right now.

      Ultrasoft is the softest tyre there is. Monaco is the track where one-stopping is the easiest. With the Ultrasoft, one-stopping may cease to be the single most promising strategy, leading to a greater diversity of strategies and maybe even some overtakes late in the race.
      In that respect, if there ever was a track where using the Ultrasoft made sense, it’s Monaco.

      1. You put an US alrady used in qualy. Lasts, how much? 5 laps? You make your one stop, go straight behind the manor…. End of race.

        Just imho. Of course.

        1. I must confess that I’m still finding it a bit difficult to follow your logic. The very fact that Monaco has been an easy one-stopper is inextricably connected to the decision to bring the Ultrasoft.
          The low cornering speeds and unabrasive track surface mean that even very soft tyres can last for many laps. Last season, even the fastest competitors completed almost half a race distance on the Supersofts.
          It is safe to assume that an Ultrasoft tyre will lead to earlier pit stops, but probably not massively so. 5 laps or so could be a realistic value on highly abrasive tracks like Barcelona, but definitely not in Monaco. They’re probably going to get 20 laps at the very least out of a set of used Ultrasofts, which should be more than enough to clear any non-Ultrasoft competitors before the first pit stop.

          The Ultrasoft may even turn out to be THE tyre to be on in the race, as in Monaco, harder doesn’t always equal more durable. In the past, there have always been drivers who, due to the mentioned characteristics, struggled to get their Softs warmed up, leading to increased sliding and excessive tyre wear, whereas the Supersofts came closer to their optimum temperature range and lasted longer.

  9. ultra soft tyre already used by mistake in australian gp on jenson buttons car. I´ve tryed contact to f1 midia, and I felt some protection around pirelli.

    http://i.imgur.com/VJQ4qbj.jpg

    http://i.imgur.com/bOxm5zk.jpg

    http://i.imgur.com/7OX6aAR.jpg

    1. Wow aren’t you eagle-eyed.
      Mclaren did a Bottas without anyone knowing.

      The only thing would be if Jenson rubbed the paint off against a wall but otherwise why would Pirelli have even brought them to Aus.

      1. Marcelo Dash
        25th March 2016, 4:15

        show me a single picture where red turned pink after a tyre hits the wall

        even on the pit stop, FIA transmission omits the rear left tyre

        1. Marcelo Dash
          25th March 2016, 5:03

          *rear right tyre

        2. “show me a single picture where red turned pink after a tyre hits the wall”

          You’ve just posted three of these.
          That’s clearly not the glowing purple of the Ultrasoft, it’s some kind of pale dusty pink, pretty much what you’d expect a red tyre flank to look like after rubbing a wall.

          We obviously have to apply Ockham’s razor here:
          Which scenario requires the least assumptions?
          – Pirelli accidentally producing and shipping a single Ultrasoft tyre, that goes unnoticed for almost an entire weekend (even though teams are known to check their tyre sets for performance before fitting them to the car), then fitting it to the car when it made zero sense to do so (during the red flag interruption, where there was no need to hurry, keeping in mind that the rears are the first tyres to suffer on a stop and go circuit), with the FIA trying to hide the fact (not showing the tyre during the pit stop but forgetting to hide it while the car is on track)

          or:
          – the tyre was a Supersoft, whose flank colour changed because Jenson touched a wall (most likely on the exit of turn 8), and the tyre wasn’t shown during the pit stop because we hardly ever get a view from all angles during a 3.0 seconds pit stop, much less from a car that’s fighting for P12.

          It may be just me, but I’m not feeling any need to flip a coin to decide which scenario sounds more convincing.

  10. Lewisham Milton
    24th March 2016, 21:17

    Hope we have proper qualifying back by then, and we get to see these tyres!

  11. Yippee more tyre news….. I’m willing to guess these tyres will fall apart within 5 laps. They couldn’t even manage 1 WHOLE lap in Spain during testing. I know I wasn’t the only person watching f1 last year who was thinking “you know what f1 needs? More tyres.” Also “know what would be good……. A really terrible new format for qualifying. Sure the drivers will hate them, teams will hate them and all the fans will definitely hate them but it’ll really mix up the grid and itll stop Mercedes getting pole position.”

  12. Like typewriting monkeys, eventually one of these rules had to get it right….

    The greater amount of choices with tire selection has proven to be an added value to the serious race watchers

  13. We need a new tyre supplier.

  14. The Medium tire will be MIA in Russia. I guess they fear the ultrasoft tire will have problems with turn 3. Absolutely no one will touch the medium.

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