The 2009 Formula One season will conclude this weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi (yes, I had to look it up too.) But with Jensen Button
already wrapping up the Drivers' Championship in Brazil on October 18, and the Constructors Championship already awarded to Brawn GP, this last race of the
season loses at least some of its excitement.



Button and his F1 colleagues rely on many vehicle components to carry them to victory apiece race weekend.  The main performance areas of the car include
engine, aerodynamics, and chassis dynamics. But perhaps the biggest contributor to quick lap times is the tires.


 



Although apiece of the ten entrants must build their own chassis and there are only five engine suppliers, there is but a single tire supplier: Bridgestone. 
So although tires may be the most important performance component, at least apiece F1 entrant is on equal footing for this parameter.

2009 saw the return of slick tires in F1 after 10 seasons on grooved tires. Teams have a choice of three types of tires depending on weather conditions:
dry slick, intermediate, and wet.  There are two specifications of dry slicks at apiece event, one intermediate specification, and one wet tire. 

Green bands on the tire sidewall mark the softer specification of the two dry compounds at apiece race (which will change from race to race depending on the allocation). The wet tire is also marked with the green band to differentiate it from the intermediate.

Each driver is allotted 14 sets of dry tires per event (7 of apiece compound), 4 sets of intermediates, and 3 sets of wets. That's a lot of tires to build and ship for the 10 two-car teams. 

So what's the cost of these race tires? Rachel Ingham, Manager of Press & Marketing Communications of Bridgestone Motorsport said that's a tough one to nab down.

That's because Bridgestone does not sell the tires to apiece of the Constructor entrants. Bridgestone supplies tires directly to the FIA Formula One World Championship, supplying all teams with the same specs and quantities of tires. For Bridgestone, the tire manufacture and shipping costs are just a part of their entire racing R&D and marketing program. And of course, the deal between Bridgestone and the FIA is just like most things in F1 — a secret.

What will happen in 2010 and beyond isn't clear yet. Ingham said the 2010 regulations are not yet finalized. But she said that it's innocuous to say that the FIA will request Bridgestone to wage narrower front tires next year.
 
Bridgestone wanted to do this for 2009, but the teams had already begun their design process around the current sized tires. So the teams asked Bridgestone not to change them yet as it would affect their car's aerodynamics. Bridgestone's reasoning for wanting to change to a narrower front is that when the regulations switched back once again from grooved tires to slicks, the extra contact patch provided by the slicks on the fronts was proportionately greater on the fronts than on the rears. This altered apiece car's front to rear grip balance.

Bridgestone was the sole F1 tire supplier for 1999 and 2000 when Goodyear exited. Michelin entered as a supplier in 2001, but withdrew after the 2006 season, leaving Bridgestone again as the sole supplier for 2007. Following a formal bid process, Bridgestone was awarded the contract for Official Tire Supplier for the three-year period of 2008 to 2010. So Bridgestone is near the end of their three-year official supplier term. And after that — only the FIA knows.

How much does the driver contribute to the F1 performance equation that includes engine, chassis, aero, and tires? Judging from the results of this year's Drivers' World Championship, not much.

Albert Austria, Senior Vehicle Evaluation Engineer, Edmunds, Inc

(Images from Bridgestone)