Pirelli has gone aggressive with their tyre allocation for the United States Grand Prix, confirming the ultra-soft compound will make its debut at the Circuit of the Americas in October.
The choices actually mimic those made last year with the 2017 rubber a step harder than it was last season. That means what was the super-soft tyre in 2016 is the ultra-soft this year, therefore, explaining Pirelli’s decision to use the softest three compounds.
The layout at COTA is one the hardest of the year on tyres with the high-speed sweeps of the first section, the slow technical corners in the middle and the long right-hander in the final sector.
That could mean another multi-stop race, something that has become increasingly rare with the more durable tyres, and also likely confirms the end of the hard tyre with only Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi left unallocated.