Jean Todt has indicated Pirelli is staying put as F1’s official tyre supplier.
Although the Italian marque has inked contracts beyond its 2013 tender with all the teams and Bernie Ecclestone, rumours have indicated FIA president Todt actually wants the French marque Michelin to return next year.
F1 chief executive Ecclestone at Monza made his feelings very clear, revealing that Pirelli’s new contracts are in fact for a longer-than-expected six year period. And the 82-year-old said he would not support Michelin’s desire to return to F1 and supply tyres with an 18-inch low profile. “It would look like a bicycle tyre on a formula one car,” Ecclestone told the British broadcaster Sky, “so I’m very much against that.”
And it seems Frenchman Todt is also now ready to accept that Pirelli is staying. “I understand that (the teams) want to stay with Pirelli,” he is quoted by the Telegraph on a visit to Monza for the Italian grand prix. “I will go with the consensus.
I am reading that I want Michelin because I am French, but I never read that (as Ferrari boss) I was the only one of the top teams to stay with Bridgestone when Michelin came into the sport. “I was still French then,” Todt smiled. So he told Reuters that the matter of F1’s tyre situation beyond 2013 will probably not be put up for grabs after all. “If everybody says we are very happy, then what is the point going to a tender?” said Todt.
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