Pirelli’s New Hypersoft Tires Not Available For First Three Races

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor

Pirelli’s new hypersoft tires, which Lewis Hamilton called, “Pirelli’s best tire since returning to F1,” won’t make their debut until the fourth race of 2018 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Italian Tire manufacturer has unveiled their compound selection for the first three Grands Prix of 2018 and the softest compound in their range did not make the cut, despite the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix taking place on a street circuit.

For Australia, Pirelli will bring the soft, super-soft and ultra-soft tires. For Bahrain they will bring the medium, soft and super-soft. China will see a bit of a deviation as the team’s will have to choose between the medium, soft and ultra-soft compounds which will add a new element of strategy in Shanghai.

Pirelli has not announced why they are not bringing their softest compounds until the fourth round of the championship, but it could be for safety reasons. The company has also announced that the 2018 tires should force teams to make two pit stops per race in a bid to improve the racing over 2017 which featured many one stop races.