The Italian tyre maker Pirelli could connect the race to provide F1 rubber next year, with Bridgestone set to leave the sport at the end of the existing f1 season. So far, Michelin and Cooper Avon are in the race to supply tyres. Among the Bridgestone having publicize last November that it wishes not to continue as F1's sole tyre supplier, Michelin - last seen on the grid in 2006 - was joined in the race this week by Cooper Avon, which last participated with the March team at the 1982 Swiss Grand Prix, dramatic at Dijon in France.
Regardless of having earlier said that it preferred to concentrate on road-going tyres, informations in the Italian press now quote Marco Tronchetti, Chairman of the Milan-based company, as saying that Pirelli is now pondering whether to rejoin the field, providing certain criteria are met. It is believed, however, that one standard the firm is searching for is to increase the diameter of F1 tyres from 13 inches (33cm) to 18 inches (46cm).
