Formula One Archives - Page 32 of 56 - Tyrepress

Formula One

Posts

Pirelli Completes WRC Tyre Supply Commitment

The conclusion of the Wales Rally GB on November 14 also marked the end of Pirelli’s time as official tyre supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship. As of 2011 the WRC is being opened up to multiple tyre suppliers, and this change in regulations helped Pirelli decide to focus its motorsport energies on Formula One as of next year. Despite this, the Italian tyre maker views its three years’ WRC involvement as a very successful time, and Pirelli will continue its commitment to rallying through supporting the new WRC Academy, which replaces the Junior World Rally Championship as the first port of call for drivers aspiring to one day become world champion. The company will also provide the opportunity for six young drivers to contest the series as part of the Pirelli Star Driver programme, which it has supported for the last two seasons.

15th November 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone to Survey Abu Dhabi F1 Track Evolution

Bridgestone bows out of Formula One with the medium and super soft compound Potenza tyres for the championship finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 13-14 November. Hirohide Hamashima – Bridgestone director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says: “Last year was the first time we visited Abu Dhabi and we learnt a lot about the circuit on that first weekend. The track layout is certainly challenging with a long straight which presents a good overtaking opportunity heading into turn eight.”

10th November 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

F1 "Matching Pirelli's Global Ambition”: Hembery

With Formula One’s Drivers Championship still in the balance heading to the final meeting in Abu Dhabi – Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and technically Lewis Hamilton are all in with a chance – Bridgestone is getting the epic final season it surely hoped for. Abu Dhabi also represents a landmark for the new tyre supplier for 2011, as Pirelli will display and test its new tyre during the weekend, following lengthy tests with F1 drivers Nick Heidfeld, Roman Grosjean and latterly Pedro de la Rosa. Tyres & Accessories spoke to Pirelli’s Motorsport director, Paul Hembery about the advantages of being involved in Formula One, and what can be expected in the next three years while Pirelli is supplying the sport’s tyres.

9th November 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone to Make Final F1 Appearance at Abu Dhabi GP

After fourteen continuous seasons at the pinnacle of international motorsport, Bridgestone makes its final Formula One appearance at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. At the end of this race, Bridgestone will have contested a total of 242 Grands Prix since making its full time F1 entry at the Australian Grand Prix in 1997. There will have been 175 wins, 168 pole positions and eleven drivers’ and constructors’ championships attained with Bridgestone Potenza tyres.

9th November 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Vettel, Webber, Alonso Podium in Brazil Sets Up Epic Abu Dhabi Finale

Bridgestone’s penultimate Formula 1 race saw the three major contenders for the Formula One Drivers Championship take the podium places. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber both closed the gap on Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari with a one-two that helped the team seal the Constructors’ Championship. All three drivers used the same super soft – medium Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy. In contrast to the damp qualifying session, the race saw hot and dry weather conditions.

8th November 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Heads to “Important Market” for Penultimate F1 Meeting

Bridgestone heads to Sao Paulo with its medium and super soft compound Potenza tyres for the penultimate round of the Formula One season on 5-7 November. “Brazil is a fantastic country and the South Americas are very important markets with good growth so it is natural for Bridgestone to appreciate the strong presence here provided by the Brazilian Grand Prix,” said Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Bridgestone Motorsport.

1st November 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Alonso Top as Webber Crashes in Tough Korean Conditions

Fernando Alonso scored his fifth win of the season in Korea, overcoming difficult conditions on a new, already slippery surface. Alonso called conditions “the worst [he’d] ever driven in”, a sentiment his nearest rival Mark Webber must also have felt as he failed to find enough grip in time when exiting a corner, aquaplaning into a wall. Current champion Jenson Button will almost certainly relinquish his crown, failing to score a point down in twelfth, but McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton kept up his challenge on Alonso and Webber with a high-quality second place, splitting the Ferraris on the podium. Sebastian Vettel’s failure to finish compounded a miserable race for Red Bull after looking strongest in qualifying.

25th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Korea Hosts Hamilton as F1 Arrives in Country

Bridgestone Korea welcomed McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton to South Korea on Wednesday (20 October) at an autographing and talk show event held in the Seoul Arts Centre. The 2008 FIA Formula One World Champion signed replica Bridgestone podium caps for Bridgestone’s tyre dealers, customers and other invited VIPs. Against the backdrop of a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes show car, which is currently on display as part of the ‘Formula One: The Great Design Race’ exhibition held at the Seoul Arts Centre, Hamilton was also joined by managing director of Bridgestone Korea Tomoya Sano, and director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development, Hirohide Hamashima.

22nd October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Webber on Top with Bridgestone’s Soft Tyre

Bridgestone’s soft tyre took Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber to the fastest time in practice for the first ever Korean Grand Prix. Webber set a 1:37:942 lap time midway through the afternoon practice session at the newly constructed Korean International Circuit in Yeongam, approximately 400km south of the South Korean capital of Seoul. There seem to be plenty of challenges for Bridgestone at the new circuit, with a dirty, slippy surface and three distinct sectors putting different pressures on the rubber. Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel suffered a puncture, leaving him seventh fastest.

22nd October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli F1 Tyres Have “Different Characteristics”: de la Rosa

Pirelli’s test-driver Pedro de la Rosa has told motorsport journalists that pleased with the development of the future tyre supplier’s current product following a two-day testing session at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. Former Sauber BMW driver de la Rosa told Autosport today: “These Pirelli tyres have their own quite different characteristics to the current supplier that the drivers will appreciate next year. I'm confident that they will form a very competitive package. Pirelli's arrival is great news for Formula One.”

21st October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Prepares for First Korean F1

Rounding the final bend of its final season in the sport, Bridgestone is preparing for a new Formula One destination at Yeongam near the city of Mokpo for the first ever Korean Grand Prix on 22-24 October with its hard and soft compound Potenza tyres. The all-new Korean International Circuit has never previously held a motorsport event, meaning that the teams and Bridgestone will have to rely on simulation data before taking to the track for the first time on the Friday of the Grand Prix.

15th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Red Bull Dominates Bridgestone’s “Final Home F1 GP”

Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel won his third Grand Prix of the season after using a soft-hard Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy in a fast-paced, close and exciting Japanese Grand Prix. Pole-man Vettel led team-mate Mark Webber across the line by less than a second for Red Bull Racing’s third 1-2 of the season. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Fernando Alonso finished third. Shoshi Arakawa, Bridgestone chairman of the Board, CEO and president delivered a parting message to Formula One: “For Bridgestone it was our final home Grand Prix. I am proud that we have supported the pinnacle of motorsport for the last 14 years. I would like to thank all the teams, drivers, fans and everyone involved in Formula One. I wish Formula One a prosperous future. We look forward to supporting all teams and drivers for the remaining three races.”

11th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Red Bull Sets Practice Pace in Japan

Bridgestone’s soft tyre took Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel to the fastest lap of the sinuous Suzuka Circuit on the first day of the Japanese Grand Prix today. The German set a 1:31.465 lap time in the afternoon session after earlier setting the fastest time with the hard tyre in the morning. Bridgestone director of Motorsport Tyre Development, Hirohide Hamashima said that both compounds for the race were looking “strong”, but that wet tyres would also come into play at some point over the weekend.

8th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Wet Testing Gives Pirelli “Clearer Idea” for Further F1 tyre Development

The latest phase in Pirelli’s Formula One tyre pre-season test programme has taken driver Pedro de la Rosa back to his homeland and the Valencia circuit in order to engage in wet conditions testing. The days spent evaluating the F1 PZero tyres in eastern Spain were the first in which de la Rosa drove for Pirelli, and during a two-day period he covered just over 650 kilometres in the Toyota TF109 test vehicle.

8th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Heidfeld Omitted from Sauber 2011 Plans

It is only some three weeks since Nick Heidfeld ended his role as test driver for Pirelli in order to race with Sauber Motorsport, yet the German driver’s planned return to Formula One racing may already not be working out the way he anticipated. Heidfeld signed up with Sauber to drive in the final five rounds of the current season along with Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi. Yet when Sauber Motorsport announced the signing of a new driver to line up alongside Kobayashi for the 2011 season, Heidfeld’s name was nowhere to be found. Instead of granting Nick Heidfeld a place on the grid next year, Sauber has signed a contract with 20-year old Mexican driver Sergio Perez.

5th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors