In a radical change of approach following six years of competition with Michelin, Bridgestone intend to supply only a single specification of tyre for the entire winter period.
With its French former rival withdrawing in protest of the control-tyre rule for 2008, Bridgestone’s inherited monopoly next year means that the design of tyre supplied to teams in Barcelona next week will probably be identical to the specification that will kick off the new season in Australia next March.
The only possible spanner in the works would be a major complaint about the proposed compound from teams, but former Michelin-shod Renault’s Pat Symonds this week said that the Bridgestone approach is actually a ‘massive help’ in catching up with the Japanese supplier’s existing teams.
“Had we been switching suppliers in the middle of a tyre war, it would have been an order of magnitude more difficult,” the Briton said.
Symonds continued: “The fact we are working with a stable product will assist us greatly in understanding the tyres.
“It will not be easy to get to Australia on an equal footing with the teams that have been using (Bridgestone tyres) for a while already, but it is achievable.”
