Bridgestone Motorsport Bahrain Grand Prix Preview
Bridgestone enters the final season of its contract as Official Tyre Supplier to the FIA Formula One
World Championship with the commencement of the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14 with Bridgestone's
super soft and medium 2010 specification dry slick tyres.
Changes for this year include a narrower front tyre, to give a more even grip balance front to rear, and
modifications to the tyre construction and compounds, due to the heavier cars and different strategy
options brought about by the ban on refuelling. Two compounds of dry tyre will be available for every
grand prix, with the requirement that both are used in the race. The concept of non-consecutive tyre
allocations, first seen last season, remains. The softer tyre at any race will be designated by green
bands on the side walls, highlighting Bridgestone's support of the FIA's Make Cars Green campaign.
Bridgestone's range of dry tyres for the season retain the same names of hard, medium, soft and super
soft, although all compounds are changed from those used in 2009. In a change to the regulations, the
number of tyres available per driver for each grand prix is reduced from 7 of each compound to 6 of the
'prime' compound and 5 of the 'option'. The wet tyre range remains as before, with the wet and
intermediate tyre available at every race, with 3 sets of the wet and 4 of the intermediate available for
each driver.
Bahrain starts a season for the second time in its seven year history and serves up a new track layout to
challenge the teams for the first of 19 races this year. Changes to the Sakhir circuit mean that a lap will
now be 6.299 km long, in contrast to its previous 5.412km, making Bahrain the second longest on the
calendar after Spa. High temperatures usually prevail in Bahrain and it is seldom wet. Traction demands
of the layout mean tyre usage needs to be closely monitored.
Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says:
"This will be our fourteenth season in Formula One and we are anticipating a fantastic year ahead of
exciting racing. We will be welcoming new teams, the return of Michael Schumacher after three seasons
away and the introduction of regulation changes, all of which will play a part in making Formula One a
fascinating sport to follow this year. For Bridgestone, the sport will continue to play a strong role in
providing our sales companies with strong promotional and marketing opportunities and the Middle East,
being a strategically important market for us, is an excellent place to start the season."
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says:
"There are both technical and logistical challenges for Bridgestone in 2010. No refuelling means we
have modified the tyre construction and have all new compounds of dry tyres. As well as cars which will
be approximately 100kgs heavier at the start of the race, we will see different pit stop strategies this
season and the top ten cars starting with their qualifying tyres brings many strategy considerations for
teams too. In terms of logistics we have new teams and 19 races. The Sakhir circuit layout is different
this year, with an additional eight turns, and this will have an impact on tyre wear and car set up. We
have the super soft tyre, which is from our lower temperature working range, and the medium, which is
from our higher temperature working range. All this sets us up for a very exciting opening race to the
season, especially with only relatively limited running in pre-season testing."
-source: bridgestone
