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Bridgestone Explains Tire Allocation for China

One week before the official start of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix, Bridgestone has released its latest information on the tire compound provided to the F1 teams for the Shanghai outing. Additionally, the company's Director of Motorsport Tyre Development Hirohide Hamashima explained his decision to bring harder compounds for the race two weekends from now, as compared to the 2009 round.

As reported by autoevolution one week before the Malaysian Grand Prix, Bridgestone will bring the soft and hard compound in China, as compared to the super-soft and medium tires it provided the teams with last year. According to Hamashima, the decision was due to the severity of the Shanghai track on the tires.

Although high temperatures will certainly not occur in China, the properties of the track will have a more drastic effect on the tires as compared to the hot Bahrain and Malaysia races.

Shanghai International Circuit is severe on tires. There are very high lateral forces and we expect to see graining on the front left tires, especially caused by the increasing radius turn two and the banked turn thirteen. We could also see graining on the rear tires here too,” said Hamashima in a preview of the Chinese GP.

We are a step harder in our allocation for this year compared to 2009 because of the heavier cars and the severity of this track. For the teams and drivers, finding the correct set-up to make the best use of their tires will be a big challenge,” added the Japanese official, who added that Bridgestone has also taken rain into consideration for the Chinese weekend.

Last year, rain affected a big part of the Chinese Grand Prix, which saw Sebastian Vettel lead Red Bull's first 1-2 finish in history, ahead of teammate Mark Webber.
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