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Pirelli state that they would probably need a specially designed compound for Monaco due to the lack of degradation. On Friday, Pirelli admitted that the ultra soft compound, the softest of all, could last the entirety of the Monaco Grand Prix.
2017 tyres from the Italian manufacturer have taken a much different approach. Since their debut in Formula 1 in 2011, they were designed to wear quickly to create exciting strategies. This year, however, they are made to last further into a race which enables drivers to push harder, for longer.
"Actually we need a special, extremely soft tyre for here," said the Italian marque's F1 chief Mario Isola. "Here, even on the ultrasoft tyres, you could do a complete race distance without any significant wear. It would not be a problem to develop such a tyre, but unfortunately we have no way to test them. Taking it to Barcelona would be quite pointless," he said.
After protests from drivers, Pirelli agreed to ditch the hard compound for the British Grand Prix after the tyre was branded useless in Spain a fortnight ago: "This is an experiment," Isola continued.
"We are being quite aggressive so I cannot say whether we will continue like that in the second half of the season. We will have to wait for the results," he said.
Today's strategy is expected to be a fairly simple one. Keeping safety cars and car damage out of the equation, cars on the ultra soft tyre are expected to stop on lap 28. It is also likely that anyone starting on the super soft tyre will stop early, perhaps after lap 1 to change onto the ultra soft.
Fergal Walsh
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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78 lapson the ultra soft is a bit ridiculous ..