Ricciardo Wants the Hypersoft Tyres at all Races

Last week’s Spanish Grand Prix was an uninteresting race for large parts but one thing that stood out was the marginal difference of 0.3 seconds per lap between the soft and supersoft tyres. The tyre compounds did not degrade as expected. So Aussie driver, Daniel Ricciardo now wants the hypersoft compound to make an appearance at every race.

Pirelli introduced their softest compound, the hypersofts this year, which give the maximum grip while also degrade as quickly. It will make its first appearance at the Monaco GP next week and Ricciardo could not wait long enough for it.

He said, “I don’t know why we can’t have the hypersoft at every race. Or at least we qualify on it and maybe figure it out after that. But at least we’ve got like a qualifying tyre and then the bigger differences in the race to create a bit more opportunity.”

Ricciardo also addressed the predictability of the teams’ tyre strategies. “Because as I say, for the top six, it was already obvious from Friday we were going to qualify on the soft and try to do a one-stop with the medium. That’s no secret. I think that’s what it is- just trying to create more options, more surprises, because it’s a bit predictable for now.”

Pirelli engineer, Mario Isola revealed he spoke to the drivers and has been paying attention to their ideas. “I had a chat with the drivers and it was quite interesting, they had a lot of ideas for the future. An interesting proposal was to consider jumping levels [in tyre compounds] because they were happy with the tyre choice in China”, said the Italian.

“We have the flexibility to jump a level as we did in China because we have six compounds in the range. But it’s possible in these conditions that you have the hypersoft as a qualifying tyre, and under the current regulations, they are obliged to use it in the race. It’s not easy. You have to consider all possibilities”, added Isola.