Last-minute tyre regulation modification

By Andrew Cutler
March 7 2007

Whitewalls?! On a Formula 1 car?! Well, maybe the markings will not be that drastic, but a last minute "tweak" to 2007 FIA regulations will force Bridgestone to somehow visibly mark one of the two different tyre compounds that it brings to each GP weekend.

After several months of discussion with Bridgestone and the eleven F1 teams, the FIA has finally come out and mandated that there must be some way for the spectators - and the competition - to know which compound each car is currently using during the course of each GP weekend. The issue of exactly what the differentiating markings will be was not spelled out by the FIA, and has appearantly been left to Bridgestone to sort out.

Bridgestone is reportedly not considering painting the entire sidewall of one of the compunds, as they do to the softer compound tyres used in the Champ Car series. The company's former technical manager Hisao Suganuma told autosport.com last year that such a move could lead to a lot of wasted tyres - because a soft tyre that needed to be painted red at one race could be a medium tyre at the following race.

One option that reportedly is being strongly considered is to mark one of the compounds with a white circle which, while not covering the entire sidewall, will still be large enough to be seen even when the car is in motion.