Cooper Avon joined Michelin as a possible Formula One tire supply replacement for Bridgestone, which ends its supply arrangement at the end of the current race season.
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told BBC Sport that he doesn’t mind which company ends up taking over tire supply “as long as the teams are happy.”
Cooper Avon’s representatives released a statement confirming that talks are ongoing: “As a major motorsport tire manufacturer, Cooper Tire, through its Avon Tires Motorsport operation, has been approached to supply Formula 1. The company is in discussion with the relevant parties and cannot comment further at this stage.”
The BBC report suggested that should Avon Motorsport win the supply deal, it is believed its plan is to use tires supplied by Bridgestone, a point later denied by both parties.
Reports by Autosport magazine, which claimed to have broken the news about Cooper Avon’s last minute entrance to talks over the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, suggest the matter should be resolved by the Spanish Grand Prix on May 7-9 as teams need to begin work on their cars’ 2011 design.
For instance, should Michelin be selected, the 13-inch wheels currently used on F1 vehicles will be replaced by 18-inch wheels, according to the BBC. This will change the cars’ suspension set-up – at the moment, the taller tire sidewalls are effectively used as part of the suspension to absorb bumps, but the smaller sidewalls of the lower-profile tires fitted to the 18-inch wheels would perform this role less effectively, and therefore suspension would have to be changed to accommodate this.
Providing additional credibility to the reports meanwhile, were the chiefs of the three leading teams in the 2010 season. Christian Horner of Red Bull Racing, told Autosport he thought there were “two credible options potentially on the table” – hinting that the decision may come down to Michelin vs. Cooper Avon – and that he was “totally impartial” about the outcome of negotiations. Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali and McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh made similar comments.
While Michelin has often been quoted as being in favor of competition in motorsport tire provision, Cooper Avon has often told tyrepress.com of its belief in single supplier series. Upon his retirement at the launch of the 2010 Avon Tires British GT Championship and Cooper Tire British F3 International Series, Avon Motorsport manager Roger Everson told tyrepress.com that the manufacturer saw solitary tire suppliers as the best option for motorsport, providing one less variable and therefore allowing series to test driver skill.
This line of reasoning was also taken by Cooper Avon’s marketing and motorsport director Julian Baldwin when the company supported the A1GP series. Tyrepress.com asked if operating as a single-supplier hamstrung the manufacturer, Baldwin replied: “Take a look at tires in Formula 1 [then supplied by Michelin and Bridgestone in competition]. They are either not mentioned or mentioned negatively. And an open tire series escalates cost. Increasingly there is a lot more linkage between road and race, in both directions. We haven’t gone for the fastest tires, but we have gone for the one that was the most fun and provided the best all round performance.” (Tyres & Accessories)
