Pirelli say that their red ‘super soft’ tyre, which will make its racing debut at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, has an anticipated range of fewer than 10 laps.
The tyre, which is said to provide excellent grip right from the beginning of a stint, will be used alongside the yellow ‘soft’ compound that has been used at every race this season.
“Monaco is a fantastic race that makes no sense on the one hand as it's so different from everywhere else, but it's still the jewel in the crown of the calendar on the other,” says Paul Hembery, the Pirelli Motorsport Director. “We're very excited to see our PZero Red supersoft tyres making their debut around the twisty streets this weekend, although this type of circuit will obviously be a completely new experience as we've only tested on permanent tracks.
“The supersoft rubber is designed to provide outstanding performance over a short period of time but this comes at the price of durability, so all the teams will have to consider their strategies carefully. Getting it right will make the difference between winning and losing.
“For longer runs, the PZero Yellow has already proven itself to be a reliable and popular product so far this year, contributing to extremely close racing while providing the drivers with all the confidence they need to push to the maximum. We said from the start that we wanted to give racing back to the racers, and we're hoping very much that Monaco will be a classic example of this.”
Less than 10 laps? Wow, hold onto your hats everyone!Â
I’m all for more unpredictable races and less durable tyres, but a tyre than can go less that ten laps in a race of 78 or so (in past years) laps seems to be going a bit far.