The first thing I don't know for sure, as I'm still playing my first full season. I can tell you in a week or so ;-) As far as I'm concerned, the second thing you ask is in the game this year! I found that out by accident: I qualified 10th in Hungary in Q2, just making the cut. I drove the Option tyre. When I skipped some time in Q3, I saw the times of the AI, which were way faster than my Q2 times. So I decided to do one timed lap on the Hard tyre, so I could start the race from P10 with Hard. Guess what happened; I was forced starting the race one the Option tyre. First thought it was a bug ;-)