Lewis Hamilton raved about Pirelli’s new hyper-soft tyre compound after testing it for the first time at Yas Marina.

“On early impression, the new hyper-soft is the best tyre that Pirelli have produced since returning to F1,” said Hamilton after covering 136 laps on a range of different tyres during today’s test.

Pirelli has introduced the new tyre as part of a revised and expanded range of compounds. It now offers seven dry-weather tyres instead of five and intends its 2018 rubber to be less conservative than this year’s.

However Hamilton believes F1’s official tyre supplier could go even softer with its choice of rubber. “I found that the other compounds are still a bit too hard for my liking,” he said, “but we’re moving in the right direction.”

“I’m not really the biggest fan of testing,” he added, “but it’s been a positive first day of running with these new tyres.”

“We managed to complete plenty of laps and collected lots of data and feedback to ensure we head in the right direction over the winter. We’ve got a good early understanding of these 2018 Pirelli tyres.”

The world champion completed his final laps of 2017 in today’s test. “It’s a nice way to wrap up the season, with one last day in the W08,” he said. “I’m definitely ready to take a break now, though.”

2017 F1 season