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Renault Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer is expecting more one-stop races in the 2017 season after sampling Pirelli’s more conservative and consistent tires in Barcelona earlier this week.

Pirelli has overhauled its F1 range for 2017 following a number of changes to the technical regulations that required the tires to increase in size by 25 per cent.

Pirelli has also worked to make its compounds more durable and predictable, with drivers complaining in recent years that they were forced to think too much about tire management from the start of the race.

Speaking to reporters in Barcelona earlier this week, Palmer said he found he was able to push his tires more and still have low levels of degradation, leading him to predict there would be more one-stop races in 2017.

“In terms of how the races are going to unfold, I’d say that’s a massive difference because there is much less deg,” Palmer said.

“The warm-up is pretty different as well, so I think qualifying in some places will be quite tricky, but the deg is none.

“For us it’s quite nice. You can really lean on the tires. In a race condition, I think there are going to be lots of one-stop races at the moment.

“But also I’ve not been able to run on the soft and the medium, but maybe the ultra-soft is going to be another step. We don’t know really. Could be.

“Some unknowns yet, but for now, no deg. Barely any.”

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