New ‘super hard’ tires raise eyebrows in Spain
Lewis Hamilton described the performance of the 'super hard' compound as a "disaster" at Barcelona — too hard and slow.
"They have zero grip," Force India test driver Nico Hulkenberg elaborated to Auto Motor und Sport.
Worried about extreme degradation at the Circuit de Catalunya, Pirelli introduced the new tire that is significantly slower than the normal soft compound.
"We expect the hard tires to last five laps longer than the soft," said an official for the Italian tire supplier.
The situation heats up the teams' strategic approach to qualifying, with Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali predicting that "no one" will risk trying to get through Q1 without using a set of softs.
And in the race, the trick will be "getting rid of the hard tires as quickly as possible", added Mercedes' Ross Brawn.
"About these tires, I'd rather not say anything," smiled Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
"I hope someone tries them in Q1," he added. "But it would be a very high risk."
Sauber estimated the soft tire as 2.4 seconds quicker than the new 'super hard' compound.