F1 News: Pirelli's New Contract With Formula One To Be Its Last One

Pirelli's last year in Formula 1 has been fixed.

Pirelli was chosen as the sole tire supplier for F1 at the expense of Bridgestone. However, the Italian manufacturer's new contract until 2028 will be its last one since the sport is most likely to sign a deal with Bridgestone.

As of now, Pirelli is about to have a new deal with F1 that starts in 2025 and ends in 2027. If the supplier intends, it could supply for an additional one year in 2028. BBC Sport had reported that Bridgestone, who supplied tires to Formula 1 teams from 1998 to 2010, had been selected as the potential supplier by the FIA.

However, the decision was changed by F1 boss Stefano Domenicali after commercial talks. He was under pressure to choose Bridgestone as the new tire supplier instead of Pirelli, despite the two options being similar financially. 

But, sensing that Pirelli was a 'safe option' to choose between the two suppliers, the deal went in favor of the Italian supplier. When Bridgestone supplied tires to F1 13 years ago, the cars back then were lighter and they created a lot less downforce compared to the Modern F1 car. 

Pirelli has been supplying tires to the existing generation of cars that are heavier and produce a lot more downforce, thus creating an immense amount of load on the tires. Maybe, to avoid unprecedented trouble, the F1 CEO opted for Pirelli as the 'safe option' since the supplier is familiar with the current tire specification. 

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There were doubts if Bridgestone could develop new tires as per the current specification in just a span of one year. In addition, the manufacturer would have to develop two different tire specifications in the first two years of the contract because of the change in technical regulations in 2026. 

As per the BBC, the new deal, which is expected to be announced after the Qatar Grand Prix, would be the last F1 deal for Pirelli. Speaking of Bridgestone, there are high chances of a Formula 1 comeback as a tire supplier in 2028 but, it would be too early to comment right now.