Pirelli has defended its decision to expand its range of tyre compounds for 2018.

The number of compounds for the coming season has blown out to seven, with the introduction of the 'superhard' and the 'hypersoft' options.

One criticism is that fans struggling to understand F1 now have an even tougher task.

"You cannot always please everyone," Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola told Auto Motor und Sport.

"But it surprised me that it made such big waves. Our task now is to explain to people that it does not complicate things.

"There are still three compounds per weekend, and if you take the superhard out, you only have to remember six colours. That's not rocket science."

However, Isola admitted that Pirelli had considered trying to simplify the colouring system amid the criticism.

"We considered saying there is only a hard, medium and soft each weekend and then using the same three colours for all races," he revealed.

"But in my opinion that is not the right message. In formula one there are always different aero packages, cooling systems, setups and so on, which is part of the sport."

The new season gets underway in March with the Australian Grand Prix.