Bridgestone tyres chiefs excited about new F1 season
Two Bridgestone tyres chiefs have been airing their thoughts on the start of the 2010 Formula One World Championship ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend.
Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Motorsport for the tyres company, said: “This will be our fourteenth season in Formula One and we are anticipating a fantastic year ahead of exciting racing.
“We will be welcoming new teams, the return of Michael Schumacher after three seasons away and the introduction of regulation changes, all of which will play a part in making Formula One a fascinating sport to follow this year.
“For Bridgestone, the sport will continue to play a strong role in providing our sales companies with strong promotional and marketing opportunities and the Middle East, being a strategically important market for us, is an excellent place to start the season.”
Hirohide Hamashima, director of motorsport tyre development for Bridgestone, added: “There are both technical and logistical challenges for Bridgestone in 2010.
“No refuelling means we have modified the tyre construction and have all new compounds of dry tyres.
“As well as cars which will be approximately 100kgs heavier at the start of the race, we will see different pit stop strategies this season and the top ten cars starting with their qualifying tyres brings many strategy considerations for teams too.
“In terms of logistics we have new teams and 19 races.
“The Sakhir circuit layout is different this year, with an additional eight turns, and this will have an impact on tyre wear and car set up.
“We have the super soft tyre, which is from our lower temperature working range, and the medium, which is from our higher temperature working range.
“All this sets us up for a very exciting opening race to the season, especially with only relatively limited running in pre-season testing.”
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