The curtains may have closed on the 2010 Formula One season but more importantly, it also marked the end of Bridgestone’s participation in the top tier of motorsports as a tyre supplier, paving the way for Pirelli to take over the reigns of rubber maker for 2011.
Even after the champagne has dried up, the teams never actually left the Yas Marina Circuit, staying back to give the new rubbers a good running in and return some valuable feedback to Pirelli before the new season is flagged off.
Once again, the tyre supplier market will be monopolized, although this time by Pirelli. The heated tyre wars of the past, where a tyre could make or break a championship, raged on until recently, when Michelin left the Formula One fraternity in 2007, leaving Bridgestone as the sole supplier until now.
While it has been 19 years since a Formula One machine last wore Pirelli rubber, the Italian marquee has seen some success in the series, with the very first Grand Prix winner, Nino Farina, crossing the finish line in his Alfa Romeo rolling on Pirellis.
Over the course of Formula One, Pirelli-wearing cars have won 43 times out of the 199 races contested. The most recent one being the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix that was won by Nelson Piquet.
As testing is still underway, the Pirelli rubbers have been getting some good reviews, most notably from 2010 champ Sebastian Vettel.
Source: Jalopnik and Getty Images
