Pirelli could introduce a sixth compound to their range of slick tyres for Formula 1 in 2018 as they look to widen their options to provide suitable rubber for the wide variety of circuits and conditions.

The Italian supplier went conservative with their design for this season due to the unknown levels of downforce expected with the faster, more aggressive 2017 cars and also following the desire to see drivers be able to push harder for longer after the high-degradation philosophy led to much of a race being dictated by tyre saving.

In some ways, however, it feels as if Pirelli went too far the other way as the hard compound was used at one race before being dropped and a one-stop strategy has become the norm throughout the season, even at high-wear circuits such as Hungaroring and Silverstone.

"Depending on the results, we will decide the number of compounds," Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola said. "My opinion is to go up to six, which is possible."

It was only last year that Pirelli added a fifth tyre to their range with the introduction of the purple-marked ultrasoft compound designed for circuits like Monaco, Canada and Singapore.

"If I look at the regulations the number of compounds is our proposal to the FIA, and usually the FIA accepts because there is no reason to refuse," Isola added.

"In fact this year we homologated 10 compounds - we had the five base compounds and five backup compounds.

"We don't need the agreement of the teams. In Abu Dhabi after the race, we have two days of testing with all the cars, and all the teams, which is supposed to be for validation of the new product, to give the teams the opportunity to test it in advance.

"So the end of November we need to be ready with the final version of our 2018 tyres."

This week, a tyre test with Valtteri Bottas in Hungary plus two further days with Ferrari in Barcelona provided the final opportunity for Pirelli to run before the construction of the 2018 tyre has to be submitted to the FIA at the start of Septemeber.

But the deadline for the compounds is December 1, which means with further testing scheduled at Paul Ricard, Mexico City and Interlagos before the aforementioned group event in Abu Dhabi will contribute to the final decision.

The final hurdle Pirelli face is anticipating the development of the cars over the winter and ensuring what will likely be a less conservative approach doesn't result in tyres which are then too soft.

But Isola doubts that will be an issue, pointing out: "Now we have much better data coming from each weekend, so we are already developing a new construction, a new profile, new ideas.

"It [the 2018 tyre] will not be a revolution compared to this year because we think we have a good product."