Breaking News: Bridgestone quits F1!
November 2, 2009 by Negative Camber
Filed under Parc Fermé, Prime & Option, Top Story
In a shocking announcement, Bridgestone will not renew its contract to supply the Formula 1 series as its tire provider. Currently Bridgestone is the sole supplier of F1 as Michelin bowed out in 2007.
The story can be found at Bloomberg:
Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) — Bridgestone Corp., the world’s largest tiremaker, will stop supplying tires for the Formula One racing championship series as it aims to cut costs and streamline research and development efforts.
The company won’t renew its current contract, set to expire at the end of the 2010 season, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement today. The company is the sole supplier of tires to F- 1 racing teams.
Bridgestone spent as much as $100 million a year on Formula One-related costs, according to the company. Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-largest carmaker, and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG have also announced their withdrawal from the championship in the past year as the global recession cuts automobile sales.
The tiremaker said it will redirect its resources toward development of new technologies and strategic products.
Bridgestone forecasts net income will drop 42 percent to 6 billion yen ($67 million) in the year ending in December.
I don’t want to get reactionary but this is a big blow to F1 as Bridgestone has been a supplier for many years and the series is reliant on its technology, R&D and products. It seems Honda, BMW and now Bridgestone are finding commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone’s series too expensive to stomach and perhaps this will also give former FIA president Max Mosley even more to crow about when discussing cost-cutting measures in F1.
Currently Bridgestone USA is trading at 32.81 USD while the Japanese arm is trading at 1,475 JPY and that is at 21:30 hours. It will be interesting to see what, if any, impact this announcement will have on the markets today but currently the Japanese stock is down almost 4%.
The next question on most fans minds will be, “what about Michelin?”. Will they come back to F1? Well…according to their press release back in late 2007 when they announced their departure from the sport they said:
“Michelin has continually made its belief known that Formula One should, as motorsport’s cutting-edge discipline, be an arena where the most advanced technologies can do battle in the interest of motoring. In this respect, the changes in the Formula One rules to bring in a single-tyre supplier go completely against these principles. It is one more step towards standardizing a sport which should be practiced at the highest level of competition”
It seems they are not very keen on a single-source series and relish competition as a way to highlight their brand. I understand the thinking behind that statement as I agreed with them and was miffed by the regulation changes the FIA made regarding the tire technology and a single-source. While many may have been in anguish over the tire war in F1, I felt is was healthy for competition and was not popular with the anti-tire war folks. Including all the unfortunate people at the US Grand Prix in 2005.
Is there any easy way to define why the FIA decided to use a sole-source for tires in F1 starting in 2008? There were many anecdotal tales of controlling the speed and grip of F1 cars but in the end, this may have been a serious blow to the series. Will F1 show up in 2011 without tires? Of course not but it remains to be seen if Michelin have changed their mind on the sole-source idea or if there will be another manufacturer with the technology and capital to support a series as global and large as F1. Michelin has a history of being in and out of the sport so time will tell.
Goodyear also left F1 after it started to falter in the tire war and left the series in 1998 much to the dismay and surprise of many of the teams they supplied in F1. The thought of them coming back makes little sense but perhaps another company will see a need for the brand equity and reach F1 can give them. Maybe a struggling economy is in need as a clearly defined leader in tire technology. Then again at $100 million a year, maybe not.
Tokyo (November 2, 2009) – Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) today announced that it will not enter into a new tire supply contract with the FIA Formula One World Championship (F1) series; the current contract is set to expire at the end of the 2010 season.
In addressing the impact of the continuing evolution of the business environment on its decision, the company focused on the need to redirect its resources towards the further intensive development of those innovative technologies and strategic products which support the company’s goals and further enhance the company’s reputation as a technology leader.
Over the years, the company has benefited directly from its involvement in Formula One racing. The lessons learned through Bridgestone’s successful participation have translated into innovations that can be applied to the design and manufacture of tires. In addition, its collaboration with F1 has contributed to increased brand awareness and the recognition of Bridgestone as a leader in the global tire industry. Having achieved these goals, Bridgestone is now poised to take its technological and brand building efforts to the next level.
Bridgestone is committed to supporting F1 and the series’ teams through the completion of the 2010 season. The company also expressed its sincere appreciation and gratitude to the management of Formula One, the F1 teams and support staff, and the F1 fans around the world for their enthusiasm and support for Bridgestone over the last 13 years.
Could it be possible that Bridgestone has discovered that a single-supplier series is not beneficial to a company when seeking to sell products? Perhaps Michelin had it right all this time? No one knows if they make a good tire because that’s the only tire. I think of NASCAR and Goodyear. To be honest, they take all the marketing space on cars and suits but when their tire sucks, they take the hit as well. So the upside is frequency of logo branding but no one takes their product that seriously as there is no competition to force them to prove superiority. Or…they just could be feeling the economic crunch like everyone else and decided to circle the wagons…probably more likely than my crackpot theory of re-discovering marketing 101.
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READ: We at Bridgestone no longer perceive Formula 1 as being the pinnacle of motorsports technology.
My question is, “Where are they going?” Firestone continues to have a strong involvement in IndyCar, but as much as I love the series, it is NOT the technological “next level”. Could Bridgestone be considering a comeback to sportscar racing to compete against Michelin at Le Mans?
That’s just corporate-speak XO. The “we are setting our sites higher and for better technology” stuff is just bunk. There is no higher goal than F1 unless maybe Le Mans and Michelin owns that series. Perhaps they too now see that Max’s idea of single-supplier is not really good for brand equity.
I hope FOTA and the FIA agree with a multi-provider option after 2010
Agreed Benalf. Let them fight and the winner usually gets to sell more tires on Monday. My car has Michelin’s on it for a reason.
Good choice NC! I’ve tried Bridgestone Potenza on my Toyota and the grip was horrible, especially in the wet. With the Michelins there’s no contest; soft-durable compounds, excellent grip on any conditions….you get what you paid for. Having Michelon back in F1 would be a good way to improve mechanical grip, continue pushing the regs on aero efficiency.
I wonder if Firestone or Good Year are interested in bringing some challenge into the series…
I’d agree that the overall grip on the Potenzas that I have used were not that great. Also they had a relatively small sweet spot in terms of temperature range. They weren’t the best for wear either.
Having said all that, when the tires were in their optimal range, they were very communicative and predictable. Certainly very enjoyable. Although not the fastest tire, they were a fun tire.
In F1, change is good. Bridgestone has been around for a while, just like Goodyear was years ago. It’s time for new blood (or returning blood if it’s Michelin or Pirelli). As long as the new manufacturer can operate at a very high technical level, F1′s tire situation will be fine.
This has to mean that Peter Windsor and the boys from USF1 will show up with Goodyear’s on right? It is NASCAR country and why not??!! They could probably get a set from Hendricks and make them fit the rims don’t you think?
Nah, they’ll go with Hoosiers.
I think part of the problem for Bridgestone is that when you have a single tyre manufacturer in the series, the drivers will only talk spontaneously about them if they have a problem.
After a good race the typical racer will say: “I did great, the team did great.”
After a bad race he’ll say: “Tyres were awful, graining, no grip etc”
It’s a choice between no publicity and bad publicity.
Also it occurs to me that Bridgestone may feel that the refuelling ban will cause some drivers tyre management problems – leading to even more tyre related excuses.
That sounds reasonable, and its made worse by this 2 compound rubbish because usually there’s a good compund and a crap one. If it’s because of the lack of competition though, why not petition the FIA and FOTA to get competition back?
i think that,honda,bmw,bridgestone feel like they do not need f1 to sell they’re products anymore,these companies bottom line mean more to them than f1,no race in the united states might have played a small role in these companies leaving to,because the united states is a big market for these companies
Maybe they were sick of getting of all the crap they were catching this season for having a step beween the two compounds (i.e. soft and hard) . It does nothing for the brand if people are yapping about how lousy one of the compunds are. Not too mention if they spent 100 million a year over the last couple of years where F1 has been rocked by scandals (spankgate, spygate, crashgate, frontgate etc…) do you want your name associated with that… I think not.
Do to cable related reasons I wasn’t watching F1 regally in 2005, so I missed most of the Tire Wars”. But it seems to me the biggest problem (the one that killed Indy) was that teams could not change tire manufactures. That seems like a no brainer to me. Now it might be a cost prohibited thing, but if you opened it up to more than one manufacture, and let the teams pick the best tire fro their car for any given race, on race weekend, there would be competition between manufactures, plenty of exposure, and you wouldn’t have to worry about races being decided by a tire deal singed in february only, or half the grid not being able to compete.
@Captain – Its not as straight forward as Multiple Tire manufacturers bringing their wares every race weekend and Team picking up what they like. The Tire Manufacturers as ‘Service Providers’ need to know ahead of time , what teams want to buy from them.
As the article has pointed out with no competition, Bridgestone has pretty much reduced to anonymity. Unlike other racing series (Read Nascar) where the winners have to make mandatory Thanks to all involved. I haven’t heard any driver thanking Bridgestone in Post race conference in F1 since 2007.
And as someone else has earlier pointed out, If Bridgestone had dropped the ball they would have got all negative publicity on the other hand, So its clear that as single tire supplier they are not getting enough out of their F1 involvement so fair decision to pull the plug on the F1 project.
Yea, I was just trying to come up with some way to have competition and avoid another Indy incident. I suppose unlike the brakes, the tires are too expensive to have teams pick and choose whenever they like. As much as I would love to see that. And like others have pointed out I think Bridgestone got bad press even when they didn’t deserve it. Either by the lame 2 step in compounds, or just frankly drivers knowing that “well the tires where going off” in an easy public way to shift blame from a bad drive.
||Yea, I was just trying to come up with some way to have competition and avoid another Indy incident.||
Honestly Indy Fiasco was all because of Ego trip that Max Mosley went on to settle scores with Michelin management that was “Asking” tough questions about frequent rules changes resulting in more cost overruns than savings that Max always “Claim” to support.
How many times did F1 drivers really drove the last banked corner running higher on the wall. The answer is never, so putting a chicane in that area would have been “fair and level” for all competitors.
It was just that Max favoring Bridgestone over Michelin lead to decisions that Mosley took that fateful afternoon..
Not true… the Bridgestone guy with the caps is there, every race, to stick them on the winning drivers. And Kimi rebends the cap to flat.
Peter – Apart from the traditional Hat handing thing is there mention of Bridgestone? Unlike in two tire supplier era, where drivers specifically thanked their tire supplier, made a brief reference of work that they did with tire supplier over the weekend to get the results. None of those things happen now that there is only one tire supplier. Only thing that drivers speak is how prime or option compound worked for them in what phase of the race, thats all.
Nascar drivers may sound silly when they thank Target,office depot , Kellogs, UPS or National Army in post race comments, but at least ensure that the sponsor/suppliers are mentioned on the TV Broadcast.
Yes, I’ve done a lot of this in my time… the picture is the one they really want. They know the audio plug is quickly forgotten. When I was doing a round-the-world flight, Mobil wanted mention in all press releases but MOST OF ALL, they wanted the pegasus on the plance. No pegasus, no deal.
What is this about “former F1 boss Max” from the rumor going around, and Varsha mouthed off on, Todt may be appointing Max as the F1 czar, since Max “doesn’t want to spend all his time working anymore.”
If Max has his way, they’ll run on F2 tires.
Peter you beat me into this one. Isn’t it a coincident that Bridgestone is backing out of F1 with Max Leaving his FIA Post :-? Timing is interesting.
It can’t be a mere coincidence, just like seeing Ron Dennis back on McLaren Pitwall first race after the FIA elections
After I saw that I kept looking to see if The Flavs boat was in the background, just off shore.
I think it is not coincidence. Mosley pushed for a good change in F1 during the nineties, basically the modernization of safety standards. further than that, anything else good that I remember. The way the FIA handle the regs and the “gates” and the FIA presidency campaign recently was unacceptable and should not happen again. I think he brought more bad things than good ones.
Never heard it said better than in the article, removing Bernie would be the best thing for cost cutting anybody could do for F1.
Bridgestone has realized today what Michelin understood in 2006: Formula 1 is not a good place to develop the tyres. And also Pirelli, who was in frame to start providing tyres in 2007, told that they would enter F1 only when FIA will change the rules because at the moment a tyre manufacturer can not learn too much from F1 for road cars.
I know this is “old news” now, but I haven’t heard any more news about it for ages. Maybe there isn;t a rush to find a new supplier because it is over a year away. Maybe the more important things like Toyota pulling out and Renault’s extraorninary meeting are taking priority.
But I just wanted to say this. I hope that this exit leaves the door open for F1 to bring back tyre wars. Tyres are the easiest thing for an everyday driver to relate to, and its one of the more commonly bought items that F1 “advertises”…
How often do you buy a new car? How likely are you to buy a Ferrari or McLaren or even a Renault?
How likely are you to buy a certain tyre because they sponsor your team, and have helped it to its latest win?