Formula One
Michelin is said to be engaged in talks that may pave the way for its return to Formula One. According to Bloomberg, Michelin managing partner Jean-Dominique Senard said the French manufacturer is holding “formal discussions” with the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, or FIA.
Reports starting with Bloomberg suggest that Michelin is seeking ways to re-enter Formula One on the condition that the tyres’ ability to affect fuel consumption positively. Jean-Dominique Senard, a Michelin managing partner, said that the company was in “formal discussions” with the FIA, telling Bloomberg that the company’s ability to supply the sport’s tyres would hinge upon new rules to show the ecological benefits tyre technology can achieve – one of the mainstays of Michelin’s corporate message.
Motorsport.com reports that tests at Jerez revealed some concern for the reported lack of longevity in wet and intermediate tyres. Finland's Turun Sanomat told Motorsport.com that between two and three seconds were being lost very soon after fitting the wet-weather tyres.
Bridgestone has announced its Potenza tyre compound allocations for the first three rounds of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. The supplier will provide super soft and medium compounds for the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir, with soft and hard compounds set for Melbourne and Sepang at the Australian and Malaysian legs. The first three races see the return of Bridgestone’s challenge to teams in including two non-consecutive compounds, exploiting the FIA’s regulation that teams must use both compounds during races. This season will be the second with slick tyres, which made a return to Formula One last year after an eleven years absence from the sport. All four dry compounds have also been modified from those used last year.
Tetsuro Kobayashi, technical manager at Bridgestone Motorsport was an engaged spectator at Formula One’s pre-season Valencia testing session, with the company’s newly-developed narrower front tyre appearing for the first time on track. It will have been a relief for him to report that “so far… our tyre performance is in line with our expectations.” If this sounds a little elusive, perhaps it is because Kobayashi is waiting for more information before the next tests, both to take place on the South coast of Spain at Jerez. “First of all, we are pleased to have seen the good potential of the 2010 specifications,” he continued, “even though it’s a little difficult to judge fully the true performance because of the special characteristics of the Valencia circuit.”
Following what it calls a “highly constructive and positive meeting” of the Formula One Commission on February 1, the FIA states an agreement has been reached by all the sport’s stakeholders on a number of amendments to the sporting and technical regulations. Included in these amendments is a proposal to reduce the number of dry weather tyre sets allocated to each driver from 14 to 11. In addition, to encourage teams to run during the Friday practice sessions, one set has to be returned before the start of the second practice session, and two sets before the start of the third practice session.
In 2009 Japan’s Bridgestone Corporation posted its first loss since 1931. The financial crisis and recession had strongly impacted upon the previously profitable Japanese home market and triggered the company’s implementation of a number of restructuring measures, notably in Oceania, where the closing of its plants in New Zealand and Australia closed the book on new tyre production in both countries. Furthermore, at the end of the current season the tyre major’s 14-year association with Formula One will come to an end. The decisive factor behind this decision was the cost and the exit of Toyota and Honda from the series, yet it can also be said that the company’s goal – increasing the Bridgestone brand’s recognition and profile – has already been reached. In this respect, remaining with Formula One would not deliver very much more and thus cannot be justified in terms of the enormous costs involved. Ecclestone & Co. also may have done nobody a favour when they decided to go with a sole tyre supplier, thereby eliminating any competitiveness from the equation.
With testing now well underway in preparation for the start of the Formula One season, new Renault driver Robert Kubica has suggested that the introduction of narrower front tyres in 2010 will mean that drivers “will have to be careful not to wear them out too quickly”, while teams “will need to adapt the set-up and weight distribution to cope with this.” Kubica gave a lengthy Q&A session at the launch of the team’s new R30 chassis in Valencia.
The much-hyped snow storm that turned much of the United Kingdom white earlier in the month did not prevent Autosport International, Europe’s largest motorsport trade show, from celebrating its 20th anniversary in style at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK, on 14-17 January 2010. Reportedly, over 85,000 visitors made the trip to the West Midlands, helping trade to increase by 10 per cent on the previous year in spite of the weather. Perhaps a general thawing in the global economic situation was more on the minds of visitors than the snow drifts hastily formed by NEC staff clearing the car parks for visitors when Tyres & Accessories arrived on Thursday 14 January to take in stands representing tyre manufacturers Dunlop, Pirelli, Yokohama and Hoosier Tire, as well as the many other automotive products and servicing equipment on display.
Work on the new Arena Grand Prix circuit and improved spectator viewing facilities is well underway at Silverstone. The Northamptonshire circuit’s managing director Richard Phillips has confirmed that work on the new circuit – which will host MotoGP and World Superbike motorcycle racing in 2010 – is on schedule and due for completion in early March. He also confirmed that discussions are on-going with Formula One Management regarding the possibility of staging the 2010 British Grand Prix on the new circuit.
More than 750 people got to experience sitting behind the wheel in an F1 car recently, courtesy of National Tyres and Bridgestone. National Tyres held four roadshows at the end of last year in several locations up and down the UK including Grimsby, Glasgow, Cambridge and Plymouth. The roadshows were held at local Sainsbury’s stores and showcased Bridgestone’s replica Formula One car and driving simulator. For a small charity donation, visitors were able to get up close and personal and have their photo taken in the replica car, as well as testing their driving skills on the simulator. The events raised nearly £800 for designated charities. Tim Lee, national account executive at Bridgestone, said: “We have worked alongside National Tyres at a number of events up and down the country. The roadshows were a huge success and we are thrilled to have helped raise so much money for the local charities. We are hoping to carry out more roadshows this year to educate more drivers about tyre safety, as well as raising even more cash for good causes.”
News reports emanating from Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport suggest that two of South Korea’s tyre makers – we’re looking at you, Hankook, Kumho and Nexen – could be in line to take the reigns from Bridgestone as the tyre supplier for Formula One, following the Japanese giant’s exit at the end of the 2010 season.
German motoring magazine Auto Motor und Sport has published coverage of the planned savings in Formula 1, which includes suggestions that Korean tyre manufacturers are interested in supplying the series. At the same time, the magazine reports that while Bridgestone has officially announced it will step back from F1 at the end of the 2010 series, the FIA could be seeking to tempt the tyre maker back with plans to keep costs down by limiting the number of tyres per race weekend to 10 from its current level of fourteen.
While no names are mentioned in the report, speculation that two Korean tyre manufacturers are interested in supplying F1 is likely to refer to Hankook and Korea. Nevertheless, in opinion of the magazine, a 2011 start for one of the Korean tyremakers would be "technically too early”, hence the Bridgestone option.
Any niggling doubts you might hold as to whether there is space in your driveway for the Ferrari 458 Italia may be put to rest by Bridgestone’s announced supply of its new Potenza S-001 UHP tyre as original equipment on the recently released Italian supercar.
Formula One is set to receive its first green technology sponsor following the signing of a multi-year partnership between the Virgin Racing team and Carbon Green. The US based company, as reported by tyrepress.com on December 10, primarily focuses upon pyrolysis based tyre recycling that permits the 100 per cent recycling of tyres and waste rubber into commercially viable marketable commodities of steel, oil and a carbon black substitute suitable for use in tyre and rubber manufacturing.
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