Formula 1 has played a vital role in building the Bridgestone tyres brand, according to a company executive.
Hiroshi Yasukawa, the director of motorsport for the Japanese tyres manufacturer, said: “Formula 1 has been crucial to us building the Bridgestone brand around the world.
“In Japan, the name Bridgestone has been famous for most of our company’s history, however we needed something that would showcase our performance and technology around the world.
“Formula 1 achieves this perfectly as it is one of the world’s top sports and the only one where our products can be used as part of the sporting activity.”
His comments come a week after Bridgestone announced that it was withdrawing from Formula 1 when its contract expires at the end of next year, to save money during the global financial downturn.
Mr Yasukawa added: “We have developed many good business relationships in Formula 1 and we have worked very closely with the teams, the FIA, FOM, the circuits and it has been a pleasure to work with them this season.
“We also thank our staff for their hard work this year.”
Alex Kapadia, Operations Team