Bridgestone’s final Formula 1 race saw an epic and exciting Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix with Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel taking his fifth win of the season to become the youngest ever Formula 1 world champion.
Vettel won by using a Bridgestone Potenza super soft – medium tire strategy. He was joined on the podium by both Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers, 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton and outgoing champion, Jenson Button, also using the same strategy.
It was a thrilling conclusion to Bridgestone’s 14-year tenure in Formula 1. During this time, 11 drivers’ and constructors’ championships, 175 race wins, 170 fastest laps and 168 pole positions were achieved on the 700,000 Bridgestone Potenza Formula 1 tires produced.
”Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel for snatching the drivers’ championship in such a strong fashion today,” said Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Bridgestone Motorsport. “This is our last race, but it comes at the end of a fantastic season where there has been a great championship battle as a fitting finale to all the drama and excitement we have enjoyed over the past 14 seasons. Our brand awareness has grown tremendously in this period and our worldwide sales companies have supported us with numerous activities and events.
”In addition to thanking all the Bridgestone personnel, I would like to thank everyone in Formula 1 for all the friendships and support we have enjoyed over the years,” he continued. “Thank you also to all the Formula 1 and motorsport fans around the world, I hope you have enjoyed our passion for excellence.”
”Today was a race where Bridgestone Potenza tires allowed a variety of strategies, great tension and immense excitement right up to the checkered flag,” said Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone firector of motorsport tire development. “It was appropriate that the driver with the most pole positions won the championship. Sebastian Vettel is a driver who often speaks to the Bridgestone engineers to understand how to get the most from our tires and his ability has been highlighted many times this season, not least today.
”Both compounds performed well. Jenson showed that the super soft could be durable if managed well and Robert showed the value of the reverse strategy from the frontrunners. Formula 1 has been a worthwhile, valuable and satisfying project for Bridgestone and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved over the past 14 years.”
Following are some interesting statistics from Bridgestone’s motor racing history.
Facts and stats:
Bridgestone has completed 14 seasons as a tire supplier to teams in the FIA Formula One World Championship (1997-2010).
F1 Grand Prix win statistics by tire company:
Goodyear 368 wins Achieved 1965 – 1998
Bridgestone 175 wins Achieved 1998 – 2010
Michelin 102 wins Achieved 1978 – 1984 and 2001 – 2006
Dunlop 83 wins Achieved 1958 – 1970
Firestone* 49 wins Achieved 1950 – 1960 and 1966 – 1972
Pirelli 42 wins Achieved 1950 – 1957 and 1985 – 1991
Continental 10 wins Achieved 1954 – 1958
Englebert 10 wins Achieved 1952 – 1958
(*Firestone’s achievements between 1950 and 1960 were all in the Indianapolis 500, which at that time was a round of the World Championship)
F1 Drivers’ Championships:
Goodyear 25 wins; Bridgestone 11 wins; Dunlop 8 wins; Pirelli 5 wins; Michelin 5 wins; Firestone 3 wins; Continental 2 wins; Englebert 2 wins
F1 Constructors’ Championships:
Goodyear 26 wins; Bridgestone 11 wins; Dunlop 9 wins; Michelin 4 wins; Firestone 3 wins; Pirelli 0 wins; Continental 0 wins; Englebert 0 wins
Pirelli Widely Praised on WRC Finale
Pirelli has been widely praised after completing its three-year tenure as the official tire supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship during last weekend’s Wales Rally GB.
Pirelli was awarded the exclusive agreement in 2008 and since then it has supplied a total of 27,995 tires for use on 40 WRC events on snow, ice, asphalt and gravel, covering more than 14,000 kilometers of special stages.
Under the terms of its contract with the FIA, Pirelli was challenged to focus on durability rather than outright performance when developing its P Zero, Scorpion and Sottozero range of WRC tires, albeit without using mousse inserts. It is therefore great testament to the advanced design and meticulous production processes employed by Pirelli that of those 27,995 tires supplied, only 43 have suffered failures on the punishing terrain encountered on world championship rallies, a percentage of just 0.1536.
Although Pirelli won’t compete for outright victory on WRC events next season, when it begins its three-year agreement as the official tire supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship, the company remains fully committed to rallying and will contest several national and international series in 2011 as well as supplying tires to the new WRC Academy, a training category for young drivers starting out in the sport’s highest echelon.
”We didn’t have any problems, no punctures, everybody was on the same level, and the tires were competitive,” said Olivier Quesnel, the boss of the Citroën Total World Rally Team, which has won the manufacturers’ title for the last three seasons with Pirelli. “The support has been really good and we regret Pirelli are not in the WRC next year.”
Christian Loriaux, the technical director of the rival Ford team, said, “It has been a fantastic three years and I’ve congratulated them (Pirelli) so many times. They have always been very professional with a good and consistent product and provided a very good level of service. They have also been very fair in everything they do and there are a lot of very nice guys in the Pirelli team who have become friends.”
The completion of Pirelli’s three-year involvement in the WRC coincided with an eighth victory of the season for the seven-time world champion Sébastien Loeb, who defeated Petter Solberg and Jari-Matti Latvala in a tense finish to register Pirelli’s 180th victory at world championship level. Driving a factory-prepared Citroën C4 WRC, Loeb completed the 344.96-kilometer route in damp and slippery conditions, with a winning margin of 19.1s on the final event for the current generation of World Rally Cars.
”When I heard that Latvala had a problem with his tire on Friday I knew it would be because of a problem with the rim, because with the Pirelli tire you don’t have punctures,” said Loeb. “It has been a very good three years with no problems at all.”
Matteo Braga, Pirelli’s senior WRC tire engineer, was highly satisfied after the finish of Rally GB in the Welsh capital Cardiff earlier today. “We are all very pleased with how this event has gone,” said Braga. “The conditions have been difficult with rain, mud and cold temperatures all adding to the challenge facing the soft compound Pirelli Scorpion tire, but once again, they have coped very well. We experienced one tire failure on the event when the sidewall on a tire on Ken Block’s Ford Focus was damaged by a rock. There have also been a few occasions when wheel rims have been broken by drivers hitting rocks and other obstacles on the stages, which have resulted in the tire losing the air, as was the case with Latvala on Friday. But, in most cases, we have been able to inflate the tire again back in service.”
Pirelli’s Rally Manager, Mario Isola, reflected on Pirelli’s three seasons in the WRC, added, “I’m very proud of the success we have achieved and would like to thank all the drivers, teams and the Pirelli staff, not just the people on Rally GB but the people in the rally department in Milan and the factory in Turkey. They have been a very important part of a successful experience. Our targets were to produce a tire that had solid puncture resistance and gave good consistency and we managed this even though we only had six months to get ready.”
As well as counting as the final round of the 13-event World Rally Championship, Rally GB was the last event of the year for competitors in the Super 2000 and Production Car World Rally Championships, which use Pirelli tires as standard and therefore underline the performance and efficiency of the Italian rubber on a wide range of machinery.
Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen, driving a Skoda Fabia S2000, was the first S2000 runner home while the inaugural title went to Spaniard Xevi Pons in a Ford Fiesta S2000. Armindo ArÁujo successfully defended his PWRC crown at the wheel of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X as Pirelli Star Driver Ott Tänak claimed maximum PWRC points on his first appearance on the demanding gravel event.
Tänak was one of five Pirelli Star Drivers completing their six-event program of WRC events this season, which is part of a joint initiative between Pirelli and the FIA to help nurture the next generation of rallying talent. Fellow Star Driver Hayden Paddon took third in the PWRC standings with team-mates Nick Georgiou, Peter Horsey and Alex Raschi all reaching the finish.
”It’s been another very successful season for the FIA Pirelli Star Drivers and having Ott and Hayden on the podium here is great news and a great endorsement of the program,” added Isola.
Edwards Wins NASCAR Phoenix 500
Carl Edwards has waited a long time to drive his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Roush Fenway Racing Ford into victory circle, in fact his last Cup win was two years ago at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On the Phoenix International Raceway 1 mile tri-oval, Edwards celebrated the taste of victory. It could not have come at a better time with the season finale next Sunday in Florida.
“It was a great day for us. The race started, I felt like we had the best car,” beamed Edwards before adding, “Then here comes Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson. Really I think their cars were better in the middle part of the race. Bob made really good adjustments. The track came to us a little bit.
“My guys did a good job on pit road, pit stall was good, Bob made good adjustments. Then at the end to be able to make the fuel stretch, the fuel mileage work out, that was a little stressful, but it worked.”
Besides adding to his points as he remains fourth in the standings, he earned his first win in 2010, and it also marked Edwards first victory at the one-mile tri-oval. With his 17th career NSCS win, he did perform his famous back-flip. Another good day for the Roush team as they celebrated the Nationwide win by Edwards yesterday. The win also places Edwards in the 2011 All-Star race.