Bridgestone Eases Concerns for 2009

Bridgestone, the equipment manufacturer, is satisfied with how the 2009 version slick tires have performed, despite concerns from drivers about the absence of tire warmers next year.

Several experienced drivers, including Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, and Nico Rosberg, have expressed concerns about the overall safety of the single-seaters following the decision to ban tire warmers in 2009.

However, Bridgestone, the official tire supplier for the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, mentioned that significant improvements have been observed a week before the Spanish Grand Prix.

« Driving with the slick tires was interesting, we are happy with their performance, » revealed Tetsuro Kobayashi, the technical director of Bridgestone Motorsport.

The situation of these tires is much better than we had anticipated. We brought three types of tires here, so there was a lot of work to do, especially since the teams were operating under different aerodynamic configurations.

The drivers now have a better understanding of handling a Formula 1 car with slick tires which will be in effect in 2009. We should all expect to see more progress each time we test this type of tire. Next time, it will be in Jerez in July, he continued.

Ten teams were present for these four days of testing from April 14 to 17. They used 2008 hard and medium tires as well as three 2009 compounds, including slick tires.

Precisely, Bridgestone will supply medium and hard tires for the next race on the Catalunya circuit next weekend.

This Spanish track can be notoriously demanding on Bridgestone tires.