Ancillary F1 - Bridgestone
- Length: 3:29
- Size: 3.3 MB
- File: ancillary1.mp3
- Transcript: ancillary1.pdf
- Torrent: ancillary1.torrent
Welcome to the first episode of the Sidepodcast mini-series: Ancillary F1. This series aims to look a little bit closer at the companies involved in Formula 1, the names you might hear around the paddock, but that aren’t directly competing. Today we’re looking at Bridgestone.
Bridgestone’s origins began, believe it or not, as a footwear company. Shojiro and Tokujiro Ishibashi started putting rubber soles on shoes back in the 1920s and they soon worked their way up to rubber tyres. The name comes from the English translation of Ishibashi – which means stone bridge. They reversed it, and the company flourished.
Despite the war, Bridgestone survived, and in 1950 they made a deal with Goodyear to once more enter the tyre industry. In the 70s, the automotive industry went through a massive boom, and by the 80s, Bridgestone was becoming a worldwide brand. Towards the end of the 80s, they bought out Firestone, who were already running tyres in Formula 1.
Bridgestone were dominating the karting industry, and expanding into Formula 2 and F3000. With the Firestone acquisition they had the connections but the money wasn’t there. Finally, in 1996, Bridgestone joined forces with the Arrows F1 team, and started winning over other competitors. Goodyear left the sport in 1998, which left Bridgestone as the sole tyre supplier. Michelin joined the fun in 2001, but just five years later, they left again, meaning F1 is once again supplied only by Bridgestone.
F1 tyres are made near Tokyo, where they are designed and tested, analysed and refined. There are many different materials that go into the makeup of a tyre, rubber, obviously, but also, oil, carbon, and steel. Approximately 60,000 tyres are produced each year and they go on an incredible journey from the moment they are made. Upon leaving the factory, the tyres are given an FIA barcode, and a number which makes each one individually identifiable. That way they can be tracked and allocated correctly to the teams. For European races, the tyres are shipped to Bridgestone’s racing base at Langley, in the UK, before being transported to the Grand Prix destinations.
Bridgestone control the fitting of the tyres to the team-supplied rims, and have to start the process on the Wednesday before a race weekend. The defending championship team gets first priority, and so on down the previous years finishing order. The tyres are delivered to the teams, and monitored throughout use. If a tyre fails during a session, either from a puncture or otherwise, they are quick to collect the tyre from the team, wrap it, and take it away for analysis. This can be done initially at the track, but the defective tyre will most likely be sent back to Langley, and in extreme cases, to Japan.
As a race weekend progresses, Bridgestone stockpile up the used tyres and return them to the UK base. These can be used for analysis purposes and many are recycled.
For the future, Bridgestone have been developing the slick tyres that return to F1 in 2009. We’ve also recently found that they will be seriously investigating the possibility of a single wet tyre, to cover all wet conditions, rather than the two specifications that are currently used. Whatever direction the sport goes in for the future, it looks like Bridgestone are here to stay.
That’s it for this first episode of Ancillary F1. I’d love to hear your feedback on this show, and what you think about Bridgestone. You can call our voicemail on 0121 28 87225, leave a comment on the blog or email me Christine @ sidepodcast.com. I will be back tomorrow with another episode and another company.
Theme music: Porter Block, Second Wind.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:37 pmSteven Roy said:
I had no idea that they recycled tyres. There must be a performance difference between a new and a recycled tyre.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:09 pmChristine said:
Having checked my source, it just says recycled. I seem to have added the “into F1 tyres” bit, so I have now taken it out.
It never really occurred to me that it would make a performance difference.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:26 pmJordan Allen said:
Would not surprize me if it just some “Going Green” thing…
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:32 pmme said:
i was under the impression they figured all the technicalities out years ago:
“Goodyear’s process preserves the rubber’s chemical composition and molecular weight, leaving the rubber suitable for recompounding and recuring into new products. It uses an environmentally friendly, recyclable solvent.”
http://www.autocentral.com/article.mvc/Goodyear-Researchers-Discover-Process-For-Dev-0002
devulcanizing is a great word isn’t it?
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:05 pmJordan Allen said:
Especially if you’re Dr. McCoy, of the Federation Spaceship Enterprise….
.
Just before Dr. McCoy starts the Devulcanizing process, he screams: “Live logn and prosper, this, Spock!!!”….
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 pmSteven Roy said:
That Goodyear blurb sounds like complete fantasy to me. The idea that you can melt down rubber without changing its basic properties doesn’t make any sense.
I am with Jordan on this. Devulcanisation sounds like a way of filing down pointy ears.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:51 amScott Woodwiss (better tremayner than the man himself? :P) said:
What interests me is why other tyre companies aren’t joining/re-joining the bandwagon and using Bridgestone’s popularity as an example. Having multiple tyre companies would really spice up racing, as all of them would have strengths and faults. Personally I would like to see Goodyear come back and also the lesser known brand Kumho have a crack. They have experience in making and supplying tyres for teams in F3 and the ALMS.
The FIA should really be trying to encourage more brands, be it tyres, engines, mechanical parts, etc. to get involved with F1, and put forward a price that is an attractive offer to anyone.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:42 amMoe said:
Thank you Christine, this totally new for me. I wonder if Bridgestone pays all costs of tyers , shipping etc.?
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:43 amBassano Clapper said:
So if the OWG (Overtaking Working Group) are looking at solutions for ‘09, how long will it be be before the other 7 teams moan about insider information if it doesn’t go their way
I’m saying Bahrain
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/081002101642.shtml
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:53 amSteven Roy said:
Scott,
The rules now ban other tyre companies from F1
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:11 amScott Woodwiss (better tremayner than the man himself? :P) said:
What?! That’s ridiculous…
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:21 amSteven Roy said:
That is ridiculous but what is really ridiculous is that Max is spouting off about the environment he gave the contract for sole tyre supply to a company who makes its tyres in Japan then ships them to England for distribution to the races and tests.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:28 amJordan Allen said:
I would say that it is also illogical but I do not want people to chase me so that they can file my ears down….
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:00 amme said:
all teams bar force india contributed to costs bassano, therefore all findings have been distributed equally.
not sure what fif1 are going to do though? i think the costs were requested when they were still spyker (and broke), maybe vijay has bought his way out of this problem?
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 amme said:
according to rf1pp, there will be no renault podcast this week due to “the logistics of being in the Far East”.
first (and probably only) win of the year and they can’t figure out how to make skype work? how rubbish is that?
http://tinyurl.com/lostrenaultpodcast
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 amFlibster said:
Thats’s pretty lame.
Even I can get skype working overseas - and that was on a EeePC.
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:32 amAlianora La Canta said:
I can’t get Skype working either - I’m glad it’s not just me. Though the timing is unfortunate.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:49 pmDirty Scarab said:
I know this is way off topic, but has anyone seen the Williams test pictures of the proposed smaller rear wing for next year yet? I’ve only just came across them and I have to say it’s darn ugly lookin’… Take a look:
http://f1around.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/um-vislumbre-de-2009/
Drastic as it is, if it promotes less dirty air and more overtaking, I’m all for it…
EDIT- I’m assuming these images are photoshopped? The wing is way off center on the 4th image down…
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:05 pmScott Woodwiss (better tremayner than the man himself? :P) said:
yeah, we kinda already knew about that
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:27 pmFlibster said:
It appears that way as its stuck out a fair bit so it’s not in line with the rear wheels - it’s actually behind them and the angle the image is taken at makes it look off centre.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 pmChristine said:
That’s the genuine article, and it’s fair to say that here at Sidepodcast Towers, we are not fans of the retro look.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:34 pmChristine said:
That’s a good question. I’m assuming that they do, as they get all the advertising and sponsorship benefits from all the teams running their name constantly on the tyres.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:05 pmSteven Roy said:
I am sure none of us want a devulcanised Jordan
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:07 pmSteven Roy said:
It surely can’t have come as a surprise to them that Singapore is in the Far East. Are they in for a shock when they find out about the location and time zones in Japan and China.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:45 pmJordan Allen said:
Make no Bones about it, I have just deduced who is the ship’s doctor abroad here.
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:38 pmr.g (my fuji, its mini me) said:
yes, and its best to agree with them
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:47 pmme said:
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:54 pmScott Woodwiss (better tremayner than the man himself? :P) said:
and now a random f1 youtube hit
F1 2005 Review video made with the official DVD footage and various music tracks. Fantastic editing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64HO6u1NhVM
October 4th, 2008 at 12:18 pmScott Woodwiss (better tremayner than the man himself? :P) said:
Just been thinking on how this working group could make the racing a little more exciting. One way could be to work pitstops like they do in the Australian V8 Supercar championship. Everyone has to do 2 pitstops, no more, no less, and on each one you are only allowed to either change the tyres or refuel.
The teams still have the hard and soft tyres, but for qualifying they must choose which tyre to run with, either the hard or soft and also their fuel load depending on the compound choice. This could mix up qualifying because - people qualifying on the soft tyre will be carrying a heavy fuel load, and the drivers light on fuel have to deal with the harder tyre, which is more difficult to heat up.
Strategy is still involved, but instead of the differing amount of pitstops, it’s how the teams use their tyres and fuel that counts.
October 8th, 2008 at 9:12 amFlibster said:
They can do more colours other than pink and white!
Green….
http://www.makecarsgreen.com/news-081008a.html
Thats going to clash with more than a few of the cars paint schemes.
October 8th, 2008 at 9:50 amme said:
uh oh… where’s scott?
October 8th, 2008 at 11:22 amFlibster said:
I wonder how many times James ‘Please, for the love of god! SHUT UP!’ Allen will tell us about the stripe this weekend?
October 8th, 2008 at 11:44 amScott Woodwiss said:
I’m here
Alright, the green isn’t AS bad as the pink, but couldn’t they have just put a logo on the cars instead? Seems a bit extreme to paint all the grooves on all the tyres green just to raise Bridgestone’s environmentally-friendly profile.
But then that’s what they said about Honda’s Earth Car…
Plus, can you imagine the mess on the track if it starts to rain?