6b754600cb5fd992415ffbe3d6648108d4d0fe88

Pirelli expects "inventive" tyre strategies in Baku

15:38, 25 Apr 2018

byNicolás Quarles van Ufford

Pirelli's head of racing Mario Isola expects that teams will get more "inventive" with their tyre strategies, as Pirelli have gone for a more aggressive choice of compounds of which the teams can choose compared to last season when people said it was too conservative.

Last year, Pirelli only made the super-soft, soft and medium compounds available, the latter of which wasn't used at all on race day. Most teams could easily do a 29-lap stint on the softest choice of the three, the super-soft.

This year, Pirelli have opted to go softer, as the medium tyre gets replaced with the purple ultra-soft tyre.

“The Azerbaijan Grand Prix should have quite a different look to it this time, being held two months earlier,” Isola referenced to the fact that the Baku GP usually takes place way later in the season.

“Last year, we felt that we were a little too conservative with the tyre nomination in Azerbaijan, in the first year of the new tyre regulations, as the Medium wasn’t really used.

“So, we felt that this year we had scope to be a little more aggressive with the nominations.

“This should lead to all three compounds being used as realistic race options, and some inventive race strategies, as we saw at the last two Grands Prix in Bahrain and China.”