Formula One should use a special, uniquely soft tyre for the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, according to Daniel Ricciardo.
The Red Bull driver said the possibility of having a special ‘Monaco tyre’ was proposed by drivers in a meeting with race director Charlie Whiting as a means of making the races more exciting.
Ricciardo believes drivers “could get through the race on the same set of tyres” this year.
“We talked about ideally we go softer with compounds, but maybe we have a ‘Monaco tyre’. That would be fun.”
“Then obviously it needs testing and all that. Whether it’s easier said than done I don;’t know but a Monaco-specific tyre would be cool. Like a super-super-super-soft, and you’re inevitably going to make more than one pit stop.”
Massa also believes drivers could make their mandatory pit stop at the end of lap one on Sunday, then complete the rest of the race without another pit stop.
“Especially on this track. So if you have the opportunity to [pit] under the Safety Car and maybe stay in a good position so maybe people will try. That’s a little bit a shame for this race.”
“One stop is definitely not great. I remember we were even talking in the last meeting with Charlie and some drivers were asking maybe Monaco needs to be two stops for everybody then the race would be nice. It would be more fun, maybe something can happen for the strategies, then we can work better also for the show.”
Jere (@jerejj)
24th May 2017, 15:26
Radio message to Alonso: Okay, so, Kimi is faster than you, can you confirm you understood that message?
BJ (@beejis60)
24th May 2017, 15:35
“Be right back, turning left at 240mph”
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
24th May 2017, 21:06
Or ” As soon as I finish this left turn I will get back to you”
Mad Eric (@mad-eric)
25th May 2017, 0:24
Or “I’ll get back to you as soon as I get to the right turn…..”
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
25th May 2017, 18:28
@mad-eric
Yeah that makes more sense , haha :D
AntoineDeParis (@antoine-de-paris)
24th May 2017, 15:35
Daniel pursuing career at Pirelli?
Robbie (@robbie)
24th May 2017, 15:52
So basically…nerf tires. Pure foam…no air.
Rick (@)
24th May 2017, 20:16
@robbie You mean these?
Robbie (@robbie)
24th May 2017, 23:38
Lol I’ve seen those before too.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
24th May 2017, 16:10
You could take the softest tyre ever created & I don’t think it would make much difference because Monaco has never been that hard on tyres. It always used to be one of the non-stop races in the pre-refueling days & even in the refueling era more often than not I recall that it tended to be a 1-stop race for most of the field.
As to making more mandatory stops to force 2 stops, I’d rather they not do that. As I’ve said many times in the past I don’t think they should have any mandatory stops at all. If somebody (Or everybody) wants to run non-stop like in the past I honestly have no issue at all with that.
anon
24th May 2017, 19:10
@stefmeister, and in the refuelling era, it was really the fuel tank size that was the limiting factor for how far the teams could go into the race, not the tyres.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
25th May 2017, 9:14
@stefmeister From time to time two mandatory pitstops are proposed to create more interesting races if tire wear is low, but I don’t like that. Strategies should come naturally I think. I don’t even like the requirement to pit at least once per race. It may encourage drivers to make the required tire change at the end of the first lap, a strategy that was commonplace in 2010, but it’s even more artificial than DRS I think. However, I fear that without pitstops the race will be very boring too.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
24th May 2017, 16:24
Yeah make it onestop… But then who will overtake?
SfMs (@sfms)
24th May 2017, 16:47
Super-super-super soft, sounds amusing (the name, not the idea).
Which makes me wonder why the current set of tyres are named as they are. For the enthusiasts it’s pretty clear, ultra soft, then super soft, then soft and so on. But for a casual viewer, such as my mom ( who has been watching f1 since many years, albeit casually), it is hard to understand why the super soft is the harder tyre for a particular race.
A simpler way could be to rename the tyres as below (and there are many ways to simplify this):
Ultra soft – softest / super soft
Super soft – soft
Soft – medium
Medium – hard
Hard. – hardest / super hard
The names remove any ambiguity, and the medium tyre sits bang in the middle of the 5 tyre hierarchy(which is where it should be logically).
Gabriel (@rethla)
24th May 2017, 17:28
soft
super soft
mega soft
ultra soft
maximum soft
Andre (@lheela)
24th May 2017, 17:37
Soft
Super Soft
Ultra Soft
Baby Skin
Charmin Toilet Paper
Rick (@)
24th May 2017, 20:19
soft
super soft
ultra soft
mega soft
giga soft
tera soft
peta soft
exa soft
frood19 (@frood19)
24th May 2017, 20:40
@addvariety
zetta soft
yotta soft, etc..&c.
deadchicken (@deadchicken)
25th May 2017, 15:29
…
Supersoft
Ultra Soft
Floppy Soft
Flabby Soft
Melted Soft
Liquid Soft
Invisible Soft
Excuse me :D (@square-route)
26th May 2017, 5:04
OMG :D
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
24th May 2017, 21:25
super street tyre 2 turbo
E. Morales (@killer)
25th May 2017, 0:47
You, sir, owe me a new keyboard. One’s that not got coffee on it.
Rick (@)
26th May 2017, 19:32
@fullcoursecaution #COTD
Joao (@johnmilk)
24th May 2017, 22:09
Milk
Cream
Yogurt
Philadelphia
Butter
Curated cheese
For the quali: marmalad
DaveW (@dmw)
24th May 2017, 20:45
The tires should just have numbers in a series reflecting relative softness. Any names are going to be confusing. Also, the names make them sound like variations of toilet paper.
Joao (@johnmilk)
24th May 2017, 17:08
Anda having all of the drivers fighting for position on track is bad? Sure it is Monaco, but well sort it out lads
Rick (@)
24th May 2017, 20:20
@johnmilk That’d be ideal. But history tells us overtaking is exceptionally rare, unless there’s rain (or some bloke called Max Verstappen starting from the back).
Rick (@)
24th May 2017, 20:21
I mean… “that guy”. (c) Lewis Hamilton
Joao (@johnmilk)
24th May 2017, 21:39
Just take all of these little shortcuts that they have, in no time we will see them starting to risk it a bit more.
Verstappen btw as to stay long enough on the race, is yet to have a trouble free day at Monaco
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
24th May 2017, 19:37
They should just call the tyres “prime”, “option” and “quali”. The casual viewer would understand this.
Then if people (mainly hardcore fans) really care, pirelli can just publish which compounds are chosen for each of the three standard designations as a side note.
Rick (@)
24th May 2017, 20:26
@eurobrun That’d be even more confusing, especially for the casual viewer! Soft/hard/medium is something everybody understands, the prefix is what makes it (more) difficult since the casual viewer might not know there’s such a thing as an ultra soft, super soft and soft to begin with. That’s why, for the casual viewer, there are 3 compounds per weekend, from the 5 available. So one race you might have the following (compound – naming):
ultra soft – soft
super soft – medium
medium – hard
And the next race, it might be:
super soft – soft
medium – medium
hard – hard
I understand what the difference would be between prime, option and quali, but that’s even more difficult to explain.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th May 2017, 20:57
@eurobrun Do ‘casual viewers’ even care about different tyre compounds in the first place? I don’t think it’s patronising to suggest they probably don’t.
Joao (@johnmilk)
24th May 2017, 22:06
From my experience with the peasents they actually care. Probably because they see the colours, I don’t know. But I’ve been asked why the difference in stint duration and what sort of tactics a team can use.
I would agree with @eurobrun though, we could have just 3 tyre names amd that would be more than enough
GtisBetter (@)
24th May 2017, 21:52
I thought we all told pirelli to stop making those tyres. Make up your mind f1 drivers…