The dramatic sight of Damon Hill’s Bridgestone-shod Arrows overtaking the Goodyear-rubbered Ferrari of old rival Michael Schumacher for the lead in the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix is one of the enduring images of the decade in Formula 1. For a different reason, so was the sight of Schumacher, now with Bridgestones on his Prancing Horse, leading away a grid of six cars at Indianapolis in 2005 after the withdrawal of Michelin’s runners on safety grounds.
Tyre wars have been missing from F1 since Michelin’s departure at the end of 2006. Long-serving Bridgestone engineer Kees van der Grint regards it as a seminal moment in recent motorsport history, because in the years since competition between tyre companies has been slowly disappearing from categories around the world.
“Some team bosses complained – and were obviously not the team bosses on Bridgestone – that they had the best car but because they had no control over the tyre they could not win,” the Dutchman recalls. “The lobby was strong, and then it all changed. Michelin wanted a challenge, they pulled out because they didn’t want one-make tyres, they wanted to beat Bridgestone.”
Super GT in Japan, the European Rally Championship, and the Nordschleife-based NLS endurance series are increasingly outliers among the herd as most leading series on the international and national level today have single-supplier deals, with many unwilling to ever countenance tyre competition. Formula E has followed this model since its inception when it partnered with Michelin, before Hankook took over for the Gen3 cars.
“Definitely we’re not interested in a tyre war,” insists FE co-founder Alberto Longo. “We’re way more interested in a sporting equality. Having two sets
