Bridgestone to end tyre supply

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Truth be told, I know them best from their involvement in rallying. That said, I don't know if they're right for Formula One. Yokohama is less than a tenth of the size of Bridgestone, so how are they faring in the recession and its wake?

It's all relative. The smaller company theoretically has less to lose.

I think Michelin would probably be the best chice, given that they have recent invovement with Formula One. They left because they didn't want to get involved in the tyre wars, didn't they? If they are approached to be the sole supplier, they might change their minds. If they don't want in, I wouldn't raise objections to Pirelli or Dunlop given their racing programs. Hell, you could probably coax Firestone, given that they work with Indycar.

Ughh...Firestone? They're owned by Bridgestone smarty pants :lol:
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Smaller copanies theoretically have less to lose - but they alsp have less to give in the first place.

And go easy on me with the Firestone comment. In-depth knowledge of the tyre markt is not my thing.
 
niky
You're way behind the times, brah... many amateur racers and autocrossers are using Kumho because they're cheaper... and really, what over-testosteroned pimply-faced kid doesn't want to say his car has Kum-hos at every corner? :lol:
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I got Kumhos wrapped around my 14-inchers.
 
interludes
Smaller copanies theoretically have less to lose - but they alsp have less to give in the first place.

And go easy on me with the Firestone comment. In-depth knowledge of the tyre markt is not my thing.
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Well I just thought it was funny that you said they could try and "coax" Firestone into F1, when you know so little about them, yet you automatically dismiss Advan as not having the resources to be in F1, when you admit: "in depth knowledge of the tyre market is not my thing."
 
timeattack07gt
Well I just thought it was funny that you said they could try and "coax" Firestone into F1, when you know so little about them, yet you automatically dismiss Advan as not having the resources to be in F1, when you admit: "in depth knowledge of the tyre market is not my thing."
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The reserves of my knowledge can be filed under "W" for "Wikipedia" - but I admit I didn't check the Firestone page.
 
In Yokohama's case, no news is good news. It's a smaller, more flexible company that actually makes a whole lotta product and is publicly visible at every level of motorsport.

Of course, they've made a loss this year, but their cash burn isn't as bad as Bridgestone's... which lost more in one quarter than Yokohama has in the entire year.

Omnis
I got Kumhos wrapped around my 14-inchers.
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See how easily that rolls off the tongue?

I've also got Kumho tattooed all over my meat on the truck.... :D
 
I think Michelin would make their comeback... But Yokohama also could. We'll see at the end of 2011 2010 that is sorry ;)...

EDIT : Pirelli, Michelin and Good Year also stated that they're not interested in returning to F1 (Perhaps they change their minds)

Search begins for F1's 2011 tyre supplier
 
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KidrauhlM5
I think Michelin would make their comeback... But Yokohama also could. We'll see at the end of 2011...
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Don't you mean "at the end of 2010"? ;)

Although, I get the impression we will hear a lot earlier about it, because the FIA have just said they already knew about Bridgestone dropping out quite a bit in advance, so they must surely be already in negogiations with a tyre company.
 
OK, let´s get one thing straight; Michelin left F1 because of a rulechange that said there would be only one supplier of tyres. Michelin wanted competition, so they left for other adventures instead. The chance that they return as a sole supplier is, as it would seem, very slim.
I´m pretty sure we´ll see more than one tyremanufacturer taking up competition at the end of 2010, and for F1´s sake, I hope Michelin isn´t one of them. None bar Bridgestone could hold a candle against them, simply because they have much more money for development, and a whole lot more experience.
 
I want to give you all a funny quote i read in yesterday's Metro concerning Pirelli.

They said that they didn't want to be in F1 and were more concerned with their road car packages

They are one of the primary tyres suppliers of the WRC and they come out with that drivel?
 
Ian Poole
I want to give you all a funny quote i read in yesterday's Metro concerning Pirelli.

They said that they didn't want to be in F1 and were more concerned with their road car packages

They are one of the primary tyres suppliers of the WRC and they come out with that drivel?
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There's probably much more cross-over between road car tyres and rally car tyres, they do after all, have to be driven on public roads during and between stages. A single seater tyre with it's high sidewalls and small rim size is a very different beast.
 
Ian Poole
I want to give you all a funny quote i read in yesterday's Metro concerning Pirelli.

They said that they didn't want to be in F1 and were more concerned with their road car packages

They are one of the primary tyres suppliers of the WRC and they come out with that drivel?
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TheCracker
There's probably much more cross-over between road car tyres and rally car tyres, they do after all, have to be driven on public roads during and between stages. A single seater tyre with it's high sidewalls and small rim size is a very different beast.
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This. I've heard Pirelli make that statement before a few years ago and it still stands true today.

There is little to no carryover between F1 tyres and road tyres. They operate at vastly different temperatures, endurance and the size itself has no correlation with anything you'll find on a production car.

Whoever takes this contract will purely do it so they can say "we make F1 tyres", and spend alot of money to do so.
 
Seems like the entirety of Japan has pulled out of International Motorsport...

The only Japanese manufacturer left looks to be Yokohama with the Touring cars...

On a similar note - Bridgestone no longer make the specialist tyres that the Honda Integra (DC02) wears... the closest replacement is the Yokohama tyres from the Touring cars... (I have a friend with an Integra)

C.
 
yeti
Seems like the entirety of Japan has pulled out of International Motorsport...

The only Japanese manufacturer left looks to be Yokohama with the Touring cars...

On a similar note - Bridgestone no longer make the specialist tyres that the Honda Integra (DC02) wears... the closest replacement is the Yokohama tyres from the Touring cars... (I have a friend with an Integra)

C.
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Not to mention Kawasaki in MotoGP and Subaru in WRC, yeah, Japan's era of motorsport frenzy seems to be disappearing. I wonder who is going to replace them in all these categories? In fact I never noticed they competed in so many motorsports at once until they all started to leave.
Guess with Lotus and Malaysia debuting in F1 next year, we could expect to see Asian countries take up the mantle?
 
Ardius
Guess with Lotus and Malaysia debuting in F1 next year, we could expect to see Asian countries take up the mantle?
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Ya, Asia has been getting a bunch of good looking race tracks as well, Malaysia, Shanghai, Bahrain, Istanbul, and most recently Abu Dhabi.
 
Yups in fact Istanbul, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are all in the middle east... Abu Dhabi is in the UAE, Istanbul in Turkey and Bahrain is in, yeah Kingdom of Bahrain.
 
How about the Chinese they are in the new tire manufacturer biz that needs exposure and probably lots of money to back them up. Bernie seems to go with people with the most money. Just like the countries that can host the races in their new tracks.
 
KidrauhlM5
Yups in fact Istanbul, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are all in the middle east... Abu Dhabi is in the UAE, Istanbul in Turkey and Bahrain is in, yeah Kingdom of Bahrain.
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Technically the Middle East - namely Turkey; not sure about the other two - is also known as Asia Minor. Istanbul is regarded as the only city in the world that is built on two continents, because the Bosphorus Strait is regarded as the divide between Europe and Asia.
 
interludes
Technically the Middle East - namely Turkey; not sure about the other two - is also known as Asia Minor. Istanbul is regarded as the only city in the world that is built on two continents, because the Bosphorus Strait is regarded as the divide between Europe and Asia.
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Well, I thought since a majority of the country was in Asia, that it would count as Asia.
 
interludes
Technically the Middle East - namely Turkey; not sure about the other two - is also known as Asia Minor. Istanbul is regarded as the only city in the world that is built on two continents, because the Bosphorus Strait is regarded as the divide between Europe and Asia.
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Asia Minor.... The Bosphorus Strait?? Haven't learned that yet in my History lesson but will next year... But seriously didn't know that so good one mate :) Thanks for the extra info ;)
 
interludes
Technically the Middle East - namely Turkey; not sure about the other two - is also known as Asia Minor. Istanbul is regarded as the only city in the world that is built on two continents, because the Bosphorus Strait is regarded as the divide between Europe and Asia.
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thank you for making the point before I did :banghead:
 
I'm sure Qingdao could step in if nobody else does. Then it'd be like Formula 1 on ice. or F1 with tractor tires. :lol:
 
I believe Yamaha is still in MotoGP.
 
I heard on WindTunnel with Dave Desapain that Michelin, Avon and Pirelli are rumored to be the final 3. He also said they all wanted to go to 18" tires.:nervous::yuck:

I would love to see Pirelli back in F1.👍

Mega Bump!!!!!
 
Two things:

1) It's not the "final three". Only three suppliers have shown interest: Michelin, Pirelli and Cooper Avon.

2) The teams want to go up to 18 inches, not the suppliers.
 
interludes
2) The teams want to go up to 18 inches, not the suppliers.
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Michelin want to go up to 18 inches to match the tyres they make for the LM series, but I'm not sure the teams do. 18inch wheels on an F1 car would need a drastic redesign of the suspension as the sidewall of the current tyre does a lot of the suspension work.
 
Wouldn't the teams be the last people to want such a major change in wheel size? It further alters their 2011 car designs, as daan mentions it also means a re-design of the suspension area of the car too. Although, they already have to re-design anyway because double diffusers are banned next year, that wouldn't be such a major re-design as this is though.
Not very "cost-cutting", eh? May as well have a tyre war :p.
 
InvincibleM5
Is the 18'' wheels going to look weird on a Formula 1 car?? :yuck:
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I've seen a mock-up of it in Autosport and yes, it does look weird. Like Daan said, high side walled tyres on F1 cars are an inherent part of the suspension design.

Teams will require more than 6 months notice to build their cars around new low profile tyres. Will any new tyre manufacturer be willing to design and produce traditional style F1 tyres for just a season or so before any new lower profile design is allowed in the regs?
 

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