Bridgestone announced through the course of the 2009 season that it will not renew their deal with the Formula One Management (FOM) at the end of 2010, pointing to the immense costs of their F1 operations as one of the main causes for this decision. Unfortunately, as confirmed by Bridgestone's director of motorsport Hiroshi Yasukawa in a short interview with Autosport, that decision still stands.
“Unfortunately our company has made the decision, and nothing has changed,” said Yasukawa, while admitting that the Japanese officials are yet to make a decision on whether to sell the technology of their F1 tires to the winning bidders in the upcoming FIA tender process or not.
Bridgestone's decision means that the ruling body needs to open their tender process as soon as possible, in order for the new tire supplier to have enough time to develop some efficient compound for the 2011 season of F1. So far, only a couple of Korean brands - Hankook and Kumho - have expressed their desire to become F1 suppliers, whereas companies like Pirelli, Michelin or Goodyear (having some serious racing pedigree) admitted they are not interested in joining the series.
As confirmed by Yasukawa, it seems that Bridgestone is not entirely reticent to the idea of continuing to supply F1 with their tires, as they would consider examining the tender process in search for some attractive clauses from the FIA.
“We are waiting for the result of the tender because without tender process we cannot do anything,” added Yasukawa.
Bridgestone has been sole tire supplier for the Formula One championship since the end of the 2007 season, when the FIA decided that there should be a single tire manufacturer in the Great Circus. Michelin walked away from the series as a result, leaving their Japanese rivals to offer their services to F1 until the end of 2010.
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