Sunday, September 19, 2010

It’s official: Pirelli to supply tires to all F1 teams from the 2011 season.





                     Italian tire manufacturing firm, Pirelli will

provide all F1 teams with four dry weather tyres in varying compounds

one wet weather tire and one intermediate tire from the nest season,

i.e. 2011. Founded in 1872 in Milan Pirelli isn’t new to providing

tires to Motorsports (World Racing Championship, Rolex Sports Car

Series, World Superbike Championship and Motocross World

Championship). It has been competing in F1 too earlier in three

distinct periods between 1950 and 1958, 1981 and 1986, and 1989 and

1991, winning 44 Grand Prix from 200 starts. Their last F1 victory

goes back to the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix when Nelson Piquet (Senior)

took the chequered flag while he was driving for Benetton. On November

2, 2009 the Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone announced that they will

not be renewing their contract to supply tires to Formula One teams

after 2010. The company said it was "addressing the impact of the

continuing evolution of the business environment." Bridgestone

provided tires to F1 since 1997. Pirelli have hired Roman Gosjean

(Former GP2 and Renault F1 driver) as the test driver which will begin

by the latter half of the 2010 season. High expectations will be from

the Italian manufacturer as the current F1 format boasts of longer

tire life with almost no pit stops or a single pit stop strategy. That

will be a challenge for Pirelli as they enter the Motorsport after 19

years. Albeit, the returns will be high for Pirelli as regards to the

marketing strategies that will spread their name in the F1 racing

destinations. Not only F1 but Pirelli will also be the sole supplier

to GP2 series for a three year contract (2011-2013) and to the GP3

series that commenced this year.

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