Pirelli has announced that its ultrasoft tyre will be used at the Canadian Grand Prix, though the purple-marked rubber will first debut in Monaco.
The Italian company has introduced the new compound as part of revamped tyre regulations for the 2016 season. The revised rules have been drafted in order to give teams and drivers greater freedom and scope in their strategy.
For each race weekend, Pirelli selects three compounds, with the softest one required to be used in Q3 and at least one of two compounds nominated mandatory for the grand prix.
As a result, Pirelli effectively chooses three sets of tyres but teams are then free to pick the remaining 10 they will use during the weekend. What’s more, they have to make their selection known 14 weeks prior to flyaway races like Montreal.
For Canada, Pirelli has announced it will bring the three softest compounds in its P-Zero range – namely the yellow-marked soft, the red-walled supersoft, and the purple-labelled ultrasoft. While Canada is the first race the ultrasoft has been named for, the Monaco Grand Prix - for which the compounds have yet to be selected as teams have a later deadline for European races - will see the ultrasoft used for the first time.
Pirelli’s newest compound was tested during the first pre-season test in Barcelona, with Ferrari and Red Bull both sampling the tyre with their two drivers. This allowed Sebastian Vettel to clock the fastest time of the opening week on a 1:22.810, two seconds quicker than the lead Mercedes of Nico Rosberg who only ran on mediums.
Scene at the first pre-season test
Feature: The first test in numbers
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