Tyre manufacturer Michelin says it’s ready to return to Formula 1 when the new supply tender is put out next year, with Pirelli’s contract set to expire at the end of 2016.
The French company previously supplied F1 between 2001 and 2006 when it went up against Bridgestone. However when the sport signalled a move to a single supplier, Michelin quit.
The company was previously against a single supplier, but says that now isn’t the case and it is prepared to submit a proposal when the tender is released, if certain rules are changed.
“Why not? We are fully open to a return, but on some precise conditions – Formula 1 must change its technical regulations,” Michelin Motorsport director Pascal Couasnon told Autosprint.
Like Pirelli, Michelin would like to see 18-inch tyres adopted, rather than the 13-inch tyres presently used by the sport and they must be allowed to develop them to last, rather than degrade after just a handful of laps.
Pirelli tested 18-inch rims on a Lotus E22
“Tyres must become a technical piece again, not just a tool to do a more-or-less spectacular show,” he added. “We want 18-inch tyres, which we already use in Formula E, and soon in another series.
“If F1 wants to consider our proposals we are here, fully open, with a strong will to return. If, instead, the prospects are to keep things as they are now, then thanks but we aren’t interested.”
Couasnon made it clear that durable tyres is what they want to offer the sport, which would allow drivers to truly push their cars and show off their talent.
“It’s not normal that after a few laps a driver says ‘I need to slow down otherwise the tyres won’t last’,” he added. “That shouldn’t happen. These days F1 drivers can’t show their talent because the tyres don’t allow them to.
“This happens when you are in a sole-supplier regime and you have no motivation to improve. That’s called mediocrity, not technology.
“If instead you have a technologically interesting rule book, even if you are sole supplier, you are forced to offer a product at its best level.”
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