Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsPirelli

Isola: Positive feedback on ultrasofts after first test

Pirelli F1 Racing Manager Mario Isola has said that he's pleased with initial feedback on the new ultrasoft tyres, even though Barcelona isn't really the optimal place to carry out detailed testing on the new compound.

"We tested the new ultrasoft in Abu Dhabi, but we tested different prototypes and here is there is a final version," said Isola.

"Teams mainly focused on car new parts and reliability," he added. "We just had a few laps on the ultrasoft ... They were running five or six laps and the tyres were still in a good shape but the degradation was coming

"It seems that it's working. The feedback was good. This is not the best track to test the ultrasoft on but at least we have an indication," he continued.

"The degradation of the ultrasoft on a circuit like Barcelona where we usually nominate the hard or the medium is not the right place."

Asked where he expected the ultrasofts to be used during the 2016 season, Isola responded: "Monaco for sure, Montreal - the tracks where last year we nominated a soft and supersort.

Isola admitted that he was surprised to see the ultrasoft compound being tested so early in the eight-day pre-season test programme, but added that he quickly realised that it made sense to do so because of new regulations that allow teams more choice in the tyre allocations they select for each car.

"I was thinking that because of the nomination for Montreal probably they wanted to have some indication a bit in advance and make some analysis of the data that they have collected now," he said. "The deadline for that nomination is next Thursday.

"Considering that they had good weather it was the right time to also test the ultrasoft," he said. "The ultrasoft was tested close to lunch time which is the best moment of the day to test a soft compound like that.

"Don't forget they have to choose their tyres in advance because the deadline to choose the tyres is eight weeks for European events and 14 weeks for overseas events so at the moment they have already chosen foor races.

"Basically what we have done is to take the allocation from last year - the two compounds - and to add a softer choice to try and generate more strategies."

FEATURE: The first test in numbers

GALLERY: Pre-season testing

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.