Bridgestone's F1 challenge

Bridgestone’s new role as sole supplier in Formula One has changed the tyre company’s working practice, but not its philosophy. The number of teams requiring Bridgestone tyres may have doubled but the aim of providing a competitive racing tyre remains exactly as it was.

“The most obvious change is that we are fitting more tyres,” says Kees van de Grint, Bridgestone’s Head of Track Engineering Operations for F1. “Put simply, this means more people and more hours to deal with the six additional teams. Apart from needing more tyre fitters, we also increased our engineering staff.”

“We want to be completely fair when providing every team with the same service, not only fitting the tyres but also with technical data exchange. The quickest car and the slowest car get the same data and the same attention. That’s our aim.

“I think people underestimate how much work is required when you are the sole supplier, especially as you want to maintain a high and fair level of service. I was working with Ferrari for six years when Bridgestone won four world championships; that was a tough job. But now I am looking after 11 teams, it is much tougher. Along with everyone else at Bridgestone, I am spending more hours at the circuit than ever before.”

Much of the increased workload is thanks to a rule change that sees Friday’s practice at each grand prix increased to two ninety-minute sessions, the teams being free from the engine restrictions that severely limited their running in the past.

At the end of the day, the twenty two drivers will each have used at least four sets of tyres, all of which need to be stripped from their rims, scanned for wear and checked for blistering before the tyres are returned to Japan.

“Sunday is also a long day,” says van de Grint. “On average, each driver will use three sets of tyres in the race. We need to perform a quick analysis before preparing the tyres for return shipment. Also, we have to wait to receive the last sets of tyres because, of course, the cars are sent to parc ferme as soon as the race finishes. Our fitters will be lucky if they get away before midnight.”

Life would be simpler if Bridgestone made a tyre so hard that a single set would last the entire race. That option was not even considered. “We could produce one tyre and tell the teams to get on with it,” says Van de Grint.

“It would be possible to make a tyre that copes with the toughest track but, in simple terms, it would be much too hard for the milder circuit. We don’t want that. We want to continue providing a high-performance racing tyre. That’s why we have actually made four different tyres for the season and we bring two different ones to each race.

“It was a challenge over the winter to develop the four different specifications to cope with all the different conditions we were likely to encounter at the 17 tracks. You make a simulation model but it cannot be a substitute for reality. So far, everything has worked as we expected.”