Bridgestone has confirmed that it will apply a thin white circle to the outside wall of its softest tyres at the Albert Park circuit this weekend.
The move is to conform with the FIA’s eleventh-hour rule to make the two specifications on offer visibly distinguishable, but it is not certain that the same white-circle method will be used at every grand prix this year.
“On the softer tyre here we will put on a three centimetres thick white mark,” a technician for the Japanese marque said on Thursday.
With the non-marked specs also featuring the standard white ‘Bridgestone Potenza’ branding on the tyre, however, it has been suggested that the white-circle might not be easily distinguishable either trackside or on TV images.
Bridgestone’s Kees van de Grint said: “We do not know if we will use this marking method for the rest of the season.
“After this weekend we will evaluate the results with input from the teams.”
