Monaco Grand Prix: Pirelli thinks ultra-soft could last entire race

The softest tyre in its 2017 F1 range is expected to be the main tyre on a Monaco layout that has been resurfaced in parts, with use of the soft and super-soft set to be limited on Saturday and Sunday.

Data from Thursday practice has led Pirelli to suggest teams could even opt to do the minimum required running of one lap on the super-soft in the 78-lap race, declaring "wear is not an issue, degradation is not an issue".

One scenario would be any driver starting outside the top 10 on super-softs offloading them as soon as the first lap, especially if there is an early safety car, while drivers could conversely start on the ultra-soft and hold out for a late safety car.

"We had zero degradation, more or less," Pirelli's F1 boss Mario Isola said.

"In the second session race simulations were very consistent. This was expected.

"We have a delta lap time between the ultra-soft and the super-soft which is around 0.7 seconds. Probably during the race this number is going to be smaller, but this is normal.

"I suppose everybody is looking at a long stint on the ultra-soft. We will see, because here the safety car chance is quite high.

"Maybe somebody is starting on the super-soft, and if we have a safety car, it is possible to change, put an ultra-soft, and run all the race.

"They have different strategic options basically because they can change when they want, depending on the race conditions.

"If the safety car is not at the beginning, we can also have a different situation."

There is also scope for leading runners to get through Q2 on super-softs and thus commit to using them at the start, but Isola believes times are too close at the front for that to be a safe option.

"To go through Q2 with the super-soft, I personally believe is a risk, because if you look at the first 10 cars they are not too far," he said.

"And if you have 0.7s, that is the delta, it's quite risky to try to go through Q2 with the super-soft.

"If you make a mistake, or find traffic that in Monaco is always possible, there is a big risk that you don't go in Q3.

"And then you start 11th, 12th, 13th. Overtaking is so difficult here that it is probably a big disadvantage."