Reports: Michelin May Pull the Plug on F1 Tyre Bid

Michelin is reportedly close to pulling out of its present bid to supply tyres to Formula One in the 2011 season of the motor racing series. If correct the news reports, which are based on French newspaper L'Equipe’s publication of an interview with Michelin managing partner Didier Miraton, leave Pirelli as the front runner. Rumours have suggested Pirelli has been favourite to secure the contract for a few weeks, but delays in agreeing a deal had suggested Michelin was still in the running.

“The development time for 2011 seems very compromised now. It is probably too late for the deadlines of next year…We have intervened to help, modestly, but at the rate things are going, I’m pessimistic,” Didier Miraton reportedly told L’Equipe.

Meanwhile Tire Review quoted Red Bull Team boss Christian Horner as saying: “Hopefully it can be a collective consensus of opinion…What is massively important for us as an independent team is that costs are under control. Ideally there will be a single tyre supplier in order to ensure consistency and compatibility with all teams. I think the Pirelli deal that seems to be on the table looks to be commercially and practically very attractive, and that seems to be the consensus of the majority of teams. But it is important that the FIA and FOM agree with the relevant tyre supplier.”

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