Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Ecclestone to decide between Pirelli and Michelin

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Bernie Ecclestone will be able to decide which tyre manufacturer he wants to supply tyres in F1 from 2017 onwards after the recent tender.

Both Pirelli and Michelin submitted bids to be the sole tyre supplier in F1, with the FIA having to identify their ability to fulfil the role on the basis of technical and safety requirements. Pirelli has been the F1 tyre supplier since 2011, while Michelin was last involved in the sport in 2006 before withdrawing.

With both manufacturers lodging bids which comply with the FIA's requirements, they have now been submitted to F1's commercial rights holder for further negotiations.

Ecclestone will hold talks with both Pirelli and Michelin in an attempt to agree on commercial terms before making a final selection on the bidder he proposes be selected by the FIA. At that stage, the decision will need to be officially approved by the World Motor Sport Council.

Michelin stated a desire to move to 18-inch tyres upon submitting its bid despite F1 teams agreeing on the continuation of the current 13-inch specification.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.