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2011 cars being designed around current tyres

ESPNF1 Staff
May 31, 2010 « Point confirms improvement - Sauber | »
The teams have no choice but to base the cars on Bridgestone's 2010 tyres © Sutton Images
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Because the decision about next year's supplier is taking so long, F1 teams are designing their 2011 cars around the current specification of Bridgestone tyre.

The Japanese marque is departing the sport, and it had been expected that the Italian company Pirelli would be unveiled last weekend as a successor. But Michelin threw a spanner in the works, by sending competition boss Nick Shorrock to Istanbul, where a 90 minute meeting on Sunday resulted in the teams still not deciding on an outcome for next year's world championship.

"It's going to take a little while longer," Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn told Reuters in Turkey.

But the teams' designers are out of time, and leading outfits are getting anxious.

"It's already late and we cannot really waste more time on it," said Ferrari's Stefano Domenicali.

Brawn said the teams are handling the situation by producing a "technical specification" of the tyre they want for 2011, and are therefore able to continue with plans for next year's cars.

"Our cars are being designed around the current tyres because we have no other information," he explained.

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