Reading: F1 want Bridgestone tyres to stay in the sport

Formula One bosses are reportedly working hard to convince Bridgestone to stay on as the sports official tyres supplier beyond this year.

The Japanese tyres manufacturer had announced its intention to withdraw from the sport at the end of this season for cost-cutting reasons.

Since then Korean tyre makers Kumho and Hankook have been mooted as possible replacement suppliers, but the latest report in Spain’s El Mundo Deportivo claims that they are not serious contenders.

While a Michelin spokesman said recently it “might consider” returning to F1 if the rules are further amended to demonstrate the tyres’ role in “fuel saving and C02 reductions”.

In the meantime, the teams are reported to be “very concerned” about the tyre situation for 2011, and El Mundo reports that about reducing Bridgestone’s necessary expenditure - currently around £48 million a year - are taking place.

The rules for 2010 have already been amended so that 11 sets of tyres rather than 14 are available to each driver per event.

The Japanese supplier has been continuously involved in F1 since 1997 and the official sole supplier between 2008-2010.

Alex Kapadia, Operations Team

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Blogs, Bridgestone, Hankook, Kumho, Michelin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.