‘Red tire’ rule still possible – Bridgestone
The Japanese marque's Hisao Suganuma is quoted by a Spanish newspaper as saying the governing body is yet to decide whether to adopt the Champ Car-style regulation to help spice up the sport in the wake of tire rival Michelin's departure.
The rule, which would see two types of tire compounds color-coded for the benefit of the fans, would make it mandatory for each driver to use both the black and red-sidewalled specifications during a race.
Bridgestone is understood to have proposed the rule also to ensure that tires are still a talking-point in 2007, and to reduce wastage of potentially unused specs.
"If the FIA decides that we should do this because it will make F1 more exciting, then we will cooperate," Suganuma, Bridgestone's departing technical manager, is quoted as saying this week by 'As'.
The Japanese explained: "It will not be an easy rule for us to implement, since the 'soft' tire for one circuit could be the 'hard' tire for another, so we will have to produce same specifications with both of the colors.
"In theory we could do it, but at the moment it is a discussion between the FIA and the teams."