No flat spot in Bridgestone's F1 involvement

LONDON, England (AP) While a Formula One driver can point to any number of reasons for not going as fast as they needed to, these days they cannot blame their tires.
Bridgestone supply all F1 teams with tires and will continue to do so until at least the end of the 2010 season.

All 10 F1 teams are supplied with identical 'control' tires, in the wet or dry, and getting the most out of them is part of a driver's skill.

But whichever driver takes the checkered flag, Bridgestone always wins.

The Japanese company have seen off two competitors in 'tire wars' since they entered F1 in 1997 to challenge American giants Goodyear.

Goodyear bowed out at the end of a 1998 season dominated by Bridgestone-shod McLaren, before a hugely determined Michelin arrived in 2001 for six relatively successful seasons.

The French manufacturer left F1 at the end of 2006 after winning back-to-back drivers' and constructors' championships with Renault's Fernando Alonso.

That ended Bridgestone's domination of the sport, which had stretched from 1998-2004 and encompassed the years when Michael Schumacher was in his pomp.

Bridgestone are now the only tire supplier in F1 as part of measures brought in to keep costs and speeds down.

In a sport where rivalry is everything, what does a lack of a competitor mean for the company -- who are currently ranked first in the global tire market -- off the track?

"We may not be in a competitive tire war any more but our F1 tires are still at the height of technological innovation," said Hiroshi Yasukawa, the director of Bridgestone Motorsport.

"We are also able to feed back new technologies from our F1 program to our road tire development program. We are able to utilize the excellent marketing platform of F1 to publicize the high level of our company's technological capabilities.

"Furthermore, we are able to work closely with some of the world's largest automobile manufacturers, deepening our relationships with them."

When they first entered the sport 11 years ago, Bridgestone were known for being big in Japan and not so big elsewhere.

Back then, entering a tire war with Goodyear, who had been in the sport since 1965 and who had won dozens of drivers' and constructors' crowns, was a gamble the company believed worth taking to raise their profile.

Yasukawa continued: "Bridgestone entered F1 when Goodyear was also competing and for us this was an important factor.

"To compete against another global market leader and to have drivers taking podiums and winning on our tires was important. The same was true when we competed against Michelin.

"There are several benefits from being involved in the sport. However, brand awareness/recognition was one of the main reasons for our initial entry to the sport.

"We believe that F1 has had a significant role in raising our brand awareness in our key markets in Europe since entering in 1997."

The price for raising their brand awareness by competing in F1 for the last 12 seasons is more than $1 billion.

Bridgestone invests around $100 million annually into their motorsport division, which employs around 70 people at their base near Heathrow, just outside London.

Somewhat surprisingly, that figure has not come down significantly since Michelin left the sport due to the cost of supplying all 10 teams. Some savings have been made, though, by switching air freight to sea freight.

But with major world markets in the midst of economic uncertainty, Bridgestone have to weigh up the cost of their investment with the benefits of being in the sport.

They are contracted to be F1's sole supplier until the end of the 2010 season, although beyond that their future in the sport is not clear.

"The current economic climate is not an easy one so there should always be continual assessments," Yasukawa said.

"However, we are committed to our involvement in F1."

The Hungarian Grand Prix marked Bridgestone's 199th F1 start -- 61 of them as sole supplier -- and its 132nd win.

But after 11 seasons' racing on grooved rubber, F1 will witness one big tire change at the start of 2009.

The favorites of rose-tinted observers, slicks, will return to improve the cars' mechanical grip while aerodynamic performance is slashed in yet another shake-up of the rules.

"From a technical perspective, the return of slicks is an exciting challenge for us," added Yasukawa.

"Bridgestone are happy to work with the FIA [motorsport's governing body] and teams with regards tire regulations and we are happy to go in this direction.