Breaking news
Formula 1 Mexican GP
F1's hypersofts like "driving in the wet"
The degradation of Formula 1’s hypersoft tyres has been likened to driving in the wet after drivers struggled with the softest-compound Pirellis in Mexican Grand Prix practice.
Scott Mitchell
Published: Oct 27, 2018, 10:41 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
F1's tyre supplier has brought its new-for-2018 hypersofts to Mexico City, where high track temperatures and the low-grip surface combined for a tricky opening day of practice on Friday.
The trouble of the hypersofts contributed to a jumbled order, with Red Bull leading Renault as Mercedes and Ferrari both struggled.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was one of the biggest losers of the mixed-up timesheets, having ended the day slowest.
"The tyres were very difficult," he said. "I didn’t get a lap on my hypersofts until the last lap of the run which by that time I couldn’t go faster any more.
"We are not last but we are certainly not as competitive as we want to be. On low-fuel it’s one story but on high-fuel it’s a completely different story.
"You’re just driving around, trying to stay on the road. You’re not racing, you’re trying to get around the lap rather than trying to go fast because you don’t have any grip.
"You might as well be driving in the dry on wet tyres. I don’t know why it’s so bad on this track but it’s certainly a big problem."
Magnussen’s Haas teammate Romain Grosjean managed the 12th fastest time but concurred with the Dane’s assessment.
Grosjean joked: "I think it was raining at one point!
"It was very, very difficult. Over one qualy lap it is always a decent tyre, but whenever you want to do a long run, you do three laps, and then it is like driving in the wet."
Drivers up and down the order struggled to either get the most out of the hypersofts over one lap or manage them on a multi-lap run.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel thinks getting the tyres switched on, without burning them up on a hot lap, could be worth up to a half a second.
"That will be the main job to get right tomorrow because you have one lap in qualy," he said of the tyres.
"With the hypersoft it should be a bit easier but still it's quite tricky to keep a clean balance from the beginning to the end of the lap."
Pierre Gasly said the degradation made his Toro Rosso feel "more like a rally car than an F1 car".
He added: "Looking at the pace on my first lap I’m not even sure it lasted more than the first two sectors!
"Honestly it’s difficult to say because even on the first lap you’re six seconds off [one-lap pace] and then after three laps you manage to lap in the same second, then after that it’s one second per lap.
"You lose the rear, you lose the front. It doesn’t feel like a Formula 1 car after a couple of laps."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Toro Rosso expected many more Honda problems
Next article Mexican GP: Friday's press conference
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
More from
Pierre Gasly
“I couldn’t disappear” – Oliver Bearman rues “crazy” penalty for Pierre Gasly clash
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
“I couldn’t disappear” – Oliver Bearman rues “crazy” penalty for Pierre Gasly clash
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Formula 1
Formula 1
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
More from
Ferrari
Ferrari downplays expectations for F1 Mexico GP despite blistering Friday
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Ferrari downplays expectations for F1 Mexico GP despite blistering Friday
Red Bull finds ‘disconnect’ in RB22 in F1 Mexico GP practice
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
3 h
Red Bull finds ‘disconnect’ in RB22 in F1 Mexico GP practice
Latest news
Haas drops Esteban Ocon for F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
35 min
Haas drops Esteban Ocon for F1 Mexico GP
Ferrari downplays expectations for F1 Mexico GP despite blistering Friday
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Ferrari downplays expectations for F1 Mexico GP despite blistering Friday
Ai Ogura explains Marc Marquez battle in Malaysia sprint, denies Aprilia team orders
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
1 h
Ai Ogura explains Marc Marquez battle in Malaysia sprint, denies Aprilia team orders
George Russell tips Frederik Vesti for F1 2027 Cadillac seat
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
George Russell tips Frederik Vesti for F1 2027 Cadillac seat
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe