Pirelli soft and supersoft tires set for Singapore GP

ERJ staff report (TP)

Milan, Italy – Formula One heads to Singapore where the two softest compounds in the range will be present – Pirelli’s P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft.

The Singapore Grand Prix, 18-21 September, is a street circuit, but a “highly unusual one”.

The race is run entirely by night, which means that track and temperature evolutions are somewhat different to the normal course of a grand prix weekend.

Nonetheless, ambient temperatures are still generally high, which along with the enclosed nature of the track in the heart of the city, means that this is one of the most physically demanding tracks of the year for the drivers.

Singapore has more corners than any other track on the F1 calendar, creating a lot more work for the tires.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director, said: “The unique nature of the race at night obviously has an impact on the tires, and we’ve selected the two softest tires in the range for their rapid warm-up and high levels of mechanical grip: vital characteristics on a street circuit.

“This is actually a step softer than last year, when we nominated the medium and supersoft, so we should see some interesting tire strategies with teams taking full advantage of the performance on offer. There’s traditionally quite a high incidence of safety cars, so every strategy has to be flexible enough to bear this eventuality in mind as well.”

The winning strategy last year was a two-stopper, with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel stopping on laps 17 and 44. The German started on the supersoft, changed to the medium, and then completed the race on the supersoft again.