Motorsport story by Brian Watters, Fri, 16 Dec 2005 01:04:00 GMT


PARIS: French tyre major Michelin is ending its association with Formula One racing after the 2006 season, the company announced Wednesday. This follows the race organisers' decision to involve only one tyre company in the event. Bridgestone of Japan will be representing company now.

Michelin's head Edouard Michelin said in a statement that the company's decision is the result of the realisation that there is a profound disagreement between the sports philosophy that has always been driving Michelin and the management practices of the F1 authorities. He said there are uncertainties that threatened long-term investments.

He said this in no way represented abandoning motorsports, to which the company has been committed for 117 years. "If F1's ways of functioning were to be significantly modified, Michelin would not hesitate in proposing its services to the different teams once again."

Michelin had been supplying its tyres to seven of the 10 Formula One teams and Bridgestone three. In 2006, Williams and Toyota have decided to leave Michelin.

The company, the biggest tyre maker in the world, was embroiled in a controversy at the U.S. Grand Prix in June when the seven teams using its tyres had difficultly following safety concerns in Indianapolis.

The company said it had apprised its teams -- McLaren/Mercedes, BMW/Sauber, Renault F1 and Honda Racing F1 -- about the impending one tyre supplier norm and promised to support them through 2006.

Meanwhile, the FIA, which governs the sport on a global level, welcomed the move and said a single tyre supplier will undoubtedly make Formula One fairer, safer and less expensive for the teams. It will avoid a repetition of the problems, which arose at the 2005 U.S. Grand Prix.

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