Bridgestone F1 Tyres Go Green

Kermit the Frog sang that ‘it’s not easy being green’, however this year’s Formula One teams may beg to differ. And while we don’t wish to declaim the truth behind Kermit’s musical lament, all race teams must do to be green in 2009 is sit back and await the arrival of Bridgestone’s soft dry weather and extreme wet weather tyres.

On February 26 the Japanese tyre major announced it will supply ‘Make Cars Green’ tyres to every team at every Formula One race this season. Through this initiative, Bridgestone says it aims to further spread the message of the ‘Make Cars Green’ environmental campaign it has been promoting globally with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile since last year.

For the 2009 season, Bridgestone will at all Formula One Grand Prix events supply two types of dry tyre with different compounds and two types of wet tyre with different tread depths. In order to visually differentiate the two categories of tyre, the softer dry tyre and the heavy-rain-use tyre will be marked with green lines around the sidewall.

Last year, Bridgestone used white lines to differentiate tyres, however the tyres supplied to the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix were ‘Make Cars Green’ tyres, and the company notes this supply proved an effective vehicle for informing the legions of F1 fans around the world about the campaign. This year, Bridgestone says it will be “delighted” if the Formula One World Championship, through its global audience, helps popularise greener motoring internationally.