F1: New Tire Supplier Will Be Needed In 2011

Formula 1

F1: New Tire Supplier Will Be Needed In 2011

F1's sole supplier of tires announced Monday its decision to pull out of the sport after the 2010 season....

SPEED Staff | Posted November 02, 2009 Paris (FRA)

Bridgestone announced Monday that they will leave Formula One after 2010. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

F1's sole supplier of tires announced Monday its decision to pull out of the sport after the 2010 season.

2010 marks the third year of Bridgestone's exclusive supply contract with Formula One, and in a media statement said the Bridgestone Corporation in Japan decided not to seek an extension.

A disappointed Hiroshi Yasukawa, boss of the company's motor racing program, said the decision was about the redirection of "resources towards the further intensive development of innovative technologies and strategic products".

“Bridgestone's relationship with the FIA Formula One World Championship stretches beyond being a tire supplier,” he said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

“Formula One has been of strategic importance to Bridgestone in developing its technologies, raising the company's brand awareness and providing its strategic business units around the globe with promotional and marketing tools that are intrinsically linked to our company's core products.

“It was a great honor for Bridgestone to be awarded the 2008-2010 contract as Official Tire Supplier by the Federation International de L'Automobile (FIA) to the pinnacle of single-seater racing and we would like to thank them for their continued support and for entrusting us with this privileged role which has seen us working at the heart of the Formula One community.

“Our sincere appreciation is also extended to Mr. Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One Management, the Formula One teams with whom it has been an honor to have worked alongside, and the many Formula One fans who have followed our activities over the past 13 years. I would also like to thank the staff of the Bridgestone Motorsport team for their professionalism, dedication and hard work, and for their passion for excellence.”

Bridgestone has been participating in the sport since 1997, winning 156 Grands Prix, 10 drivers' and 10 constructors' titles. They became the official sole supplier to the championship in 2008.