Pirelli have said that the purple ultrasoft tyre will be the most popular tyre for this weekends Australian Grand Prix. 

The Italian marque have also admitted that tyre degradation witnessed during both Friday practice sessions, was quite a way below the target set, and expected by the FIA for the 2017 season.

Pirelli chief Mario Isola however believes that as the season progresses and the cars continue to develop, further forces then will be exerted on the tyres to neutralise the target set. 

“We have to consider the improvements of the cars,” said Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola. 

“So more stress on the tyres means more degradation. If I look at the number of degradation now, we are below the [FIA] target letter.

“Looking at the expected degradation for the ultrasoft here, we should lose two seconds in nine laps, and we are not losing two seconds in nine laps, so we are below this number.

“But of course with the performance improvement of the cars, we will have a higher degradation.”

Britains Lewis Hamilton managed a 25-lap run on the ultrasoft tyres in the afternoon session maintaining a consistent pace. 

“Here some teams this afternoon used the soft and the ultra, and some teams the supersoft and the ultrasoft. It is clear that the ultrasoft is a compound for the race.”

It was clear to see from the first practice session alone that, a one stop race will be the order (procession) of the day. 

This will minimise strategy options, and the worry then is that the show will suffer as a result. 

Isola though is adamant that the drivers will be able to race hard for more of time, reminiscent of the Bridgestone clad days. 

“What is good is that the overheating is very limited, and this is an important factor which gives the drivers the ability to push on the tyres,” he said.

“This is what we were looking for, we want to confirm, and we are happy that we have this feedback. Today was positive in general, and the numbers we collected so far are in line with expectations.

“We were having no comments of overheating, the level of grip seems to be quite good, because the laptime is saying that the performance improvement is very big.

“Last year FP2 was very wet, so we cannot compare the laptime in FP2, but we can compare the laptime in FP1. This morning we were five seconds a lap quicker compared to last year.

“The target was to be five seconds per lap quicker compared to 2015, so I think that the target is achieved.

“We know that tomorrow in qualifying if it is dry they will improve again, the delta laptime will be again quicker, but how much quicker, it’s difficult to predict at the moment.”

No doubt this won’t please the same fans that complained about the spongey rubber we had in the past, but having the drivers drive hard is certainly what we want to see. 

This durable tyres may highlight fuel saving even more though, if the drivers can lean on their Pirelli boots more. 

We can’t have it all.