Hamilton hoped ultra-soft would be more aggressive

2016 Monaco Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Lewis Hamilton said he had hoped F1’s new ultra-soft tyre compound would be more aggressive after trying it in Monaco.

F1’s official tyre supplier Pirelli has introduced the new tyre, identified by purple markings, for tracks where tyre degradation is low.

“Although the new tyres are definitely softer than the other compounds they still feel pretty hard around here,” said Hamilton, who was second-fastest on Thursday in Monaco. “It’s not as easy to get them in the window as we would hope.”

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said the new tyre “has delivered everything we wanted from it so far – extra performance and the potential to have an effect on strategy”.

“From what we can see so far, we’d expect to get more than 15 laps out of this tyre before it’s necessary to come in and change,” he added. “The interesting question will be whether or not this diverts any drivers away from the one-stop strategy.”

Pirelli has already confirmed the ultra-soft tyre will also be used at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Red Bull Ring, and it may make further appearances before the end of the season.

2016 Monaco Grand Prix

    Browse all Monaco Grand Prix articles

    Author information

    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...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    10 comments on “Hamilton hoped ultra-soft would be more aggressive”

    1. I expected the tyres to quickly get into the operating window and be able to set fast laps as soon as possible.
      But from the statements, it seems the tyres take a little while to get into the window, rubber in fast laps and can last 15 laps or more.
      I must say I did not expect the US tyres to have that kind of longevity. But who knows, they may fall off the cliff as soon as they reach the end of their performance life.

      1. Seemed to work fine for Ricciardo!

        1. Yeah they seemed to have worked fine Ricci.
          Do the Redbulls have a better understanding of the tyres than others?
          I hope the tyres dramatically loose pace when they have reached their cliff to add more to the excitement.

        2. Yes. He was posted good laps consecutively. The gap to Max is huge, that new engine is looking good. Red Bull is comin, it’s good for he championship

          1. If Renault managed to solve the gremlins that were hunting them for the past 2.5 yrs… Redbull will be on their knees so soon, and start arguing against about bringing in newer cheaper engine partners next year, stating we have enough partners or whatnot that suits their agenda…

          2. Leen (@leendert82)
            27th May 2016, 6:57

            in qualifying sim the gap looked huge but that was because Max got hold up by Vettel’s spin and had to abort his fast lap. Max had purple sector at his run and would for sure be up there with RIC.

      2. Sometimes (not always) a softer tyre can last longer because it slides across the track surface less.
        Also the tyre deforms where it contacts the track which works the rubber, higher speed tracks can work the tyre hard through aero loads, obviously less of a factor at Monaco.

    2. I think everyone forgot about 1 weakness of the silver arrows, apart from the car being “a little bad while following cars”, is that the Mercedes cars seem to have issues with warming up or gettting the tyres into their correct operating window. Remember Singapore last year? Although that still remains a mystery but it seems like that it is the closest thing to assume. Unless, *conspiracy theories* *looks into ceiling rolling eyes* *answers, it’s possible*, Bernie gave them harder tyres than the competitors. Anyway, if this is how the characteristic of that Mercedes W07, because the car might be dominant here if they get the tyres working in the correct window. I am surprised that Lewis feels that they are still hard because they are “ultra soft”

      1. I think Merc are very good at getting tyresinton temperature maybe what they do best. Singapore was a one off and Ferrari had the same issue in qualifying last race but come race day could easily catch Red Bull straight just could not get past. The tyre temperature issue if anyone has it it is Ferrari.

    3. digitalrurouni
      26th May 2016, 19:50

      Anybody have any info if the trend of ridiculously high tire pressures is still being followed here in Monaco as well even with these ultrasofts?

    Comments are closed.