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Can Bridgestone be Convinced to Stay with F1?

An article published by Spanish sports publication El Mundo Deportivo indicates concern from Formula 1 teams about tyres for the 2011 season may be behind alleged attempts to woo Bridgestone back into the tyre supply fold. The Japanese manufacturer stated cost as one of the reasons for its decision not to continue with the championship after 2010, however talks are now allegedly taking place to find ways of reducing necessary expenditure below the 55 million euros per annum Bridgestone currently spends.

23rd February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Reported to be in F1 Talks

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.

15th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Announces Tyre Allocations for F1 Opening Trio

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.

11th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Changes to F1 Tyre Regulations Proposed

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.

3rd February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Holding Onto All Long-Term Goals

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.

2nd February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Silverstone Arena GP Circuit Development “Well Underway”

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.

28th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Partner National Tyres for Roadshows

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.”

28th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Reports: Korean Tyre Manufacturers Interested in Formula 1

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.

14th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Uniflate Gains Pirelli Driver Approval

The Pirelli Driver Centre scheme – a pan-European network of approved independent fast fit centres focussed on customer service and industry best practice – is now recommending the use of nitrogen tyre inflation from Uniflate.

Malcolm Russell, manager of the Pirelli Driver Centre programme commented: “The purpose of the Driver Centre scheme is to offer motorists a network of trusted independent fast-fit centres. Clearly, quality of service is a major focus for us, and being able to recommend trusted suppliers such as Uniflate allows us to offer the centres – and through them motorists – the best possible service.”

7th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone OE on Ferrari 458

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.

7th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Transense Contributes to F1 KERS Success

For the past eighteen months Transense has worked closely with McLaren Electronic Systems developing, manufacturing and deploying its Torque sensor as part of a KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) that was used with success during this season’s Formula One championship. As far as Transense is concerned, the most significant aspect of this project has been the technical performance validation and commercial application of both the SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) sensor and the company’s patented Reader Electronics equipment within the demanding operating environment of an F1 car – a procedure involving the wireless measurement of torque on a shaft rotating at up to 18,000 rpm.

11th December 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

F1 Should Go Back to Competing Suppliers – Last Chance to Vote

Its seems virtually no-one likes the idea of having continuing with a control tyre in Formula One. As voting for this month’s tyrepress.com Question of the month draws to a close, an overwhelming majority of respondents said “competing tyre manufacturers make for more interesting race.” At the time of writing 93.1 per cent of voters chose this option. Therefore a mere 6.9 per cent support the concept of the world’s most prestigious motor racing series continuing with just one tyre supplier when Bridgestone bows out of this role at the end of the 2010 season.

30th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Should F1 Return to Competing Tyre Suppliers?

Following Bridgestone's announcement that it will walk away from Formula 1 when its current contract comes to an end at the end of the 2010 season, Tyres & Accessories' website (tyrepress.com) wants to hear your views on what should happen next. So, in order to canvas the widest possible cross-section within the tyre trade, we have posted a new question of the month and invite you and your colleagues to cast your vote. This month's question:
Now Bridgestone have ruled themselves out of F1 from 2010, how should tyres be supplied to the series?

2nd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin OE on New Renaultsport 250 Cup

The new Megane Renaultsport 250 Cup, due out in January 2010, will come fitted with 235/40 ZR 18 Michelin Pilot Sport 2 high-performance tyres as standard. The new car will be available with the standard Sport chassis with the Cup chassis option for even more track-focussed performance. In addition to Michelin tyres, the Cup chassis will also feature different springs and dampers, a thicker anti-roll bar and a limited slip differential to help push track performance to the highest levels. According to the company, the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 is Michelin’s high-performance road tyre and is inspired by the Company’s past experience in Formula 1, it is also fitted as standard to the Bugatti Veyron.

The tyre features a Variable Contact Patch that increases the area of tread in contact with the road as cornering force increases and an asymmetric tread pattern which has a rubber-to-groove ratio close to that of an F1 tyre. Michelin’s Pilot Sport 2 is available in various sizes to suit most high-performance cars and the Megane Renaultsport 250 will be available to order from November, with customer deliveries starting in January 2010.

16th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Takes Super Soft, Medium Potenzas to Brazilian GP

Bridgestone has announced that it will continue its policy of taking two tyre options with a wider compound stiffness gap to the penultimate Grand Prix of the Formula One season. Sao Paulo’s undulating anti-clockwise Interlagos circuit will see super soft and medium compound Potenza slicks used between 16 and 18 October. The combination has been seen previously this year in Australia, China, Bahrain and Germany.

14th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors