What types of tires for the next nine races?

The official tire supplier, Bridgestone, has announced the types of tires that will be used by all F1 teams for the first nine rounds of the championship.

The Japanese equipment manufacturer explains that 2008 will see few changes compared to what was proposed last season.

The same types of tires as in 2007 will be used for the first nine races except for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The cars will have to use a soft/medium duo, which was preferred over the medium/hard duo used last year. For an event, there are two types of tires, and each driver with their car must complete at least one stint with each of them.

The ‘super soft’ tires will be used during the races in Monaco and Montreal in Canada.

« This choice of tires for the first half of the season was facilitated by the continuity of our tires from last year, » said Hirohide Hamashima, director of Motorsport tire development.

« We made a small change in the production of rain tires for better safety and adjusted the ‘Super Softs’, but other than that, the tires remain the same. »

The teams and drivers now have a year of experience with these tires, and the cars are constantly being developed. For Bahrain, after reviewing the data accumulated last year as well as from the most recent event, we are confident about using softer tires.

« For the second half of the season, we will face a bit more difficulty in tire allocation as two new Grand Prix events are on the schedule with Valencia and Singapore. The announcement will be made later, » concluded Hamashima.

The compounds for the 2008 season: