F1 Teams Make Direct Pitch for Bridgestone to Stay
A group of Formula One teams has formally asked Bridgestone Corp. to revisit its decision to leave the series after this season. Faced with as many as six separate bids from other tyremakers to take over as a race supplier, a number of F1 teams opted to make the formal request. Following last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, team principals met with Bridgestone motorsport director Hiroshi Yasukawa, who passed the request on to recently seated Bridgestone Europe CEO Makio Ohashi, who was present at the race.
Yasukawa told Autosport magazine that, “After each race meeting we make a report to Japan, so are going to report to our top board members about what has happened this weekend. Mr. Ohashi has also realized that F1 is very important for Bridgestone. I really appreciate the teams’ approach, and we are happy that they still trust in our company and they wish Bridgestone to stay. Maybe we have to reconsider because of the market and the environment. We also understand that F1 itself is more concerned about the environment now, and there is a new power train coming.