McLaren expecting mainly two-stop F1 races in 2018

McLaren chassis chief Tim Goss expects a two-stop strategy to be standard at most Formula 1 races through 2018 following Pirelli's decision to introduce two additional tyre compounds for the new season.

Pirelli pushed to move away from 2017's regular one-stop races by extending its range of tyres to seven types for the new season, adding Superhard and Hypersoft compounds at either end of its range.

Teams got a first opportunity to try out the Hypersoft at the end-of-season test in Abu Dhabi last November, and it is expected to feature typically at street circuits such as Monaco where grip levels are low.

As well as an increase in tyre grip that should see lap times fall, Goss is confident there will be a shift away from the routine one-stop races that will also help to spice up races.

"They’ve released compound choices for the early races, we’ve looked at that and I think our opinion is that there will be an increase in tyre grip. That could be half a second to a second a lap, something like that, and there will be more bias to two-stop races than previously," Goss said.

"We still think it will be a mix of one- and two-stop races, but biased more to two-stop races, so I think moving sensibly in the right direction.

"We’ve got to learn about the tyres. We obviously tested them in Abu Dhabi so it’s one circuit in fairly hot conditions, we’ve got to learn more about those tyres at different circuits.

"The gaps in terms of compound performance aren’t necessarily all even. There’s sort of a bit of a bigger gap there and then two tyres that are closer together, that’s certainly what we’ve found.

"But I think generally Pirelli have done a great job at listening and moving in the right direction."