Reading: Michelin wants tyres war for F1 return

Michelin have revealed that they will only return to Formula One next season if they have at least one other tyres supplier to compete against.

The French tyres manufacturer is seriously considering getting back into the sport after stepping away from the track at the end of 2006.

But now, with Bridgestone pulling out as the sole tyres supplier when their contract comes to an end later this year, Michelin has admitted it is tempted to get back in the driving seat - but it wants competition.

It has been rumoured that Michelin not only wants to be paid to supply 18-inch tyres in 2011, but that it would welcome a rival competitor.

At the opening round of the 2010 Le Mans series at Le Castellet, a senior Michelin spokesman said: “Certain things have to be done, we must have competition, we do not want to be the only supplier.”

And, according to Motorsport, reports suggest that if the F1 rim size is increased to Le Mans-type specification as per Michelin’s wishes, Yokohama and Dunlop may also be interested.

Alex Kapadia, Operations Team

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 3:13 pm and is filed under Blogs, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michelin, Yokohama. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.