Pirelli will continue as the official tyre supplier for the 2014 season and beyond after news emerged that FIA president Jean Todt will meet with Bernie Ecclestone, Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery and the company’s chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera in Italy on Sunday ahead of the race.
The Italian company already has agreements in place with all 11 Formula 1 teams and an advertising contract with Formula One Management (FOM) for 2014.
Whilst Michelin is pushing for a return, Todt has agreed that should all 11 teams agree that Pirelli is what they want – which they have already done so – then he won’t bother with a new tender process.
“If everybody says we are very happy [with Pirelli], then what is the point going to a tender?
“I will be able to explain that we don’t go to a tender because everybody is asking [for Pirelli]. But if I had five teams saying we want that, and the other ones this, then definitely we would need to go to a tender,” he said on Saturday.
A new five-year deal at minimum is expected to be agreed and could be announced this week.
