FIA confirm Pirelli to continue as tyre supplier

2014 F1 season

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The FIA has confirmed Pirelli will continue to supply tyres in Formula One.

The sport’s governing body said Pirelli will continue to do so until a new procedure for tendering for such suppliers has been introduced.

A statement issued following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council said: “In this new process, the FIA will be confirmed as the body in charge of conducting the tender process.”

“The Commercial Rights Holder will be entitled to run the commercial negotiations with potential suppliers, with a view to the selected single supplier being officially appointed by the WMSC.

“In order to cover the transition period and considering the contracts already settled by FOM and the teams with Pirelli, the WMSC today confirmed that Pirelli may continue to supply tyres to competitors in the FIA F1 world championship, subject to the requisite technical and safety standards of the FIA being met.”

Formula One Group was believed to have agreed commercial terms with Pirelli for future seasons before reaching an agreement with the FIA.

The FIA added its new tendering procedure would apply to “appointing single suppliers in the tyre and fuel categories for the FIA F1 world championship”. F1 teams currently source their own supplies of fuel.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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28 comments on “FIA confirm Pirelli to continue as tyre supplier”

  1. Sensible decision that took far, far too long to make.

    1. Its just adds to the rumours of the CIA election race.Honestly speaking about tyres Hembery said Pirelli would bring more conservative tyres for this new era which is much in line with this new marketing extravaganza of the new cvc

      1. “Conservative Vehicular Championship”?

      2. Itś about time for spies to have a voice in the decisions of the CIA

  2. yeah, if they had wanted to change anything, 2 years ago this time of year would have been about the right moment. Now its far too late to consider anything but prolonging the Pirelli deal

  3. Interestingly, nowhere does the FIA refer to Pirelli as F1’s ‘official’ tyre supplier. The regulations still stipulate there will only be one, but perhaps the door is being left open for another?

    Or they might just be a bit grumpy that FOM handed them a fait accompli by giving Pirelli a deal on signage rights.

    1. I think they’ll keep Pirelli for 2014 but are looking for a new tyre supplier (Michelin) for 2015

      1. PLEASE let that happen!!! It would be awesome spice up to have the top running teams using different tyre suppliers

    2. If there is more than one tyre supplier, they will compete to provide the best possible tyres. I don’t think that the FIA can ask both of them to provide tyres “designed to degrade” and not expect one of them to be considerably better than the other. It would be practically impossible to balance them. Let alone having different compounds of each brand. Unless there are major changes to the regulations so that the tyres overall become less important (hard to imagine), then I think that a single supplier is the most sensible solution.

  4. Whoa, what? A single fuel supplier? That’s going to cause some trouble..

    1. I would rather say that ist not going to happen. The ties between automotive companies and their fuel / lubricant suppliers are very strong.

    2. Never! Petronas, Shell, Mobil, all too involved.

    3. @npf1
      Yes it sounds absolutely ridiculous.
      That wouldn’t save money, nor will it make a noticeable difference in the teams’ respective performances. But it would stop an awful lot of money from getting into the pockets of several teams.

      1. Fuel sponsorship deals, tie-ups and active partnerships are too lucrative for the teams to give up in favour of a single fuel supplier.

        Off the top of my head, in the last few years the following have received:

        Ferrari – £25m/yr Shell
        Mclaren – £20m/yr ExxonMobil
        Mercedes – £20m/yr Petronas
        Williams – £20m/yr PDVSA
        Lotus – £10m/yr Total

    4. That will never happen. Period. Too much money/lobbying/interests…
      And after all variety is good

    5. The only answer to this would be to have the teams use regular petrol from the same suppliers as those that supply our filling stations. 98 RON super unleaded that you or I can fill up our cars with. No messing around with the composition.

  5. I have to admire Pirelli, still sticking to F1 even though it may have seriously damaged their reputation. Good job we have got slower degrading tyres for next year.

  6. Thank god common sense has prevailed. On a separate note, how ridiculous it is for the Formula One group to agree commercial terms with a tyre supplier without getting it approved by the FIA. Tyres are such a key element to racing, commercial interests should never ever precede concerns for quality and safety. (Not a swipe at Pirelli , the problem here is the F1 group greed and the FIA incompetence)

  7. A single fuel supplier is a mistake in my opinion because it will force even more big companies out of the sport. Technical freedom breeds financial investment, and cash injections are good for the ultimate health of the sport. Mobil 1, Shell and others spend a lot of money on F1 fuel development and bring a lot of money to F1 teams. What is the benefit of forcing rich companies to leave F1? We don’t have controversy over fuel composition or rules and it doesn’t really affect the quality of the racing. Why not just leave the fuel alone?

  8. I think Pirelli’s tyres have been far too influential the past 3 seasons, Its been all about tyres, tyres, tyres & im getting really tyred of it to be honest.

    I know what they were asked to do & it didn’t bother me so much in 2011 but I feel they went far too extreme in 2012 & especially this season & all too often the races have been completely dominated by the tyres & overly excessive tyre management.

    Either let Pirelli make the best tyres they can, Let someone else come in to replace them or allow competition & allow teams to go with whatever supplier they want.

    1. I remembe reading (several months ago) that Pirelli will not be continuing with the “last for 2 laps” style of tyre and plan on bringing something much more durable to 2014.

      Hopefully I did actually read that, it wasn’t a rumour and didn’t occur while I was dreaming.

      1. @disjunto Only because the powertrains are unknown as to how they will perform, yet.

  9. I was expecting Michelin tyres.

  10. David not Coulthard (@)
    27th September 2013, 17:30

    appointing single suppliers in the tyre and fuel categories for the FIA F1 world championship

    One likes to believe in the freedom of Music F1 – but glittering prizes & endless comprimises shatter the illusion of integrity?

  11. A statement issued following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council said: “We will continue to string these guys along until we can get our house in order and dispose of them in a more dignified manner than what we had planned.”

  12. I was hoping tyres and wheels would be more in line with reality. 16″ to 18″ rims with appropriate widths and profiles. i.e. carcass construction more relevant to everyone.

  13. Looks like 2014 is the last year for Pirelli in F1 – assume it will go to tender and Michelin will get it going forward.

  14. First tires, now they want fuel. What is next? Engine? Chassis?

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