Isola curious to see how hyper soft tyre performs

Pirelli's Motorsport Racing Manager Mario Isola has said that he will be interested to see how well the hypersoft tyre performs in race conditions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend. 

The pink-walled hypersoft tyre is the softest tyre that Pirelli have produced, making it the "fastest tyre in Formula 1 history". It was introduced at the start of the season, but didn't make its competitive debut until the Monaco Grand Prix in May. 

The tyre has received support from the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo, with the latter suggesting that Pirelli should bring it to every race in order to bring a greater level of unpredictability to qualifying.

Due to the softness of the tyre it means that the pole lap this weekend should be substantially quicker than the lap record set by Valtteri Bottas around the Yas Marina circuit in 2017.

“Once again we’re bringing a tyre nomination that’s somewhat softer than previous years,” Isola said. “The hyper-soft is selected for only the sixth time this year, and for only the third time at a permanent race venue.

"Nonetheless, the hyper-soft is not entirely new to Abu Dhabi, as it was first run there a year ago, making Yas Marina the only track where the hyper-soft has previously tested and will now be raced.” How it actually performs in race conditions at the circuit, especially with regard to strategy, is going to be interesting to see,” Isola added.

“Of course, those tactics will already begin in qualifying on Saturday. Once again, the teams will get a chance to test next year’s tyres after the race: of course they will run on 2018 cars, but this test will nonetheless provide a useful taste of the future.”