Bridgestone confirms withdrawal from Formula One

Bridgestone, which has supplied tyres to Formula One since 1997, will not renew its contract with the Formula One World Championship series, which expires at the end of next season.

"It is with deep regret that Bridgestone Motorsport confirms that at 10.00am today, the Bridgestone Corporation announced its decision to not enter into a new tyre supply contract with the FIA Formula One World Championship series," said a statement from Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Bridgestone Motorsport.

"The current contract is set to expire at the end of the 2010 season. The decision made by the Board of Directors of Bridgestone comes after considerable and lengthy evaluations and has been based on the company's need to redirect its resources towards the further intensive development of innovative technologies and strategic products."

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"Bridgestone's relationship with the FIA Formula One World Championship stretches beyond being a tyre supplier," the statement continued. "Formula One has been of strategic importance to Bridgestone in developing its technologies, raising the company's brand awareness and providing its strategic business units around the globe with promotional and marketing tools that are intrinsically linked to our company's core products."

Bridgestone will continue to supply tyres to GP2, GP2 Asia, MotoGP and other series until at least 2011, the company added.