Wednesday 25 January at 14:35 : Jan.25 (GMM) Pirelli's tyres for 2012 are brighter, squarer and softer, the Italian marque announced on Wednesday.

F1's official supplier had summoned F1 journalists to the venue of the Abu Dhabi grand prix to launch its second season on the grid.

This year's range is "more angular" and the compounds are softer, while the wet tyres bear the word 'Cinturato' -- the brand of Pirelli's F1 debut in 1951.

The coloured sidewall markings, meanwhile, are bigger and brighter.

President Marco Tronchetti Provera told reporters the tyres are designed for "deliberate degradation" in order to produce "spectacular races".

And Pirelli's F1 boss Paul Hembery said he is looking for a replacement for the 2009 Toyota test car, with talks scheduled for a forthcoming meeting of the F1 Commission.

Former Renault driver Vitaly Petrov - in Abu Dhabi - is a likely signing if he does not find a race or reserve seat, but existing tester Lucas di Grassi may also be retained.