Pirelli to exit Formula 1? Bridgestone and Hankook eye 2028 supply deal. F1 prepares for life after Pirelli with Bridgestone and Hankook in contention.

Formula 1 looks far ahead; what happens today was decided years ago, and the same goes for the future. One of the next pieces to settle concerns the tyre supplier. Pirelli has a contract expiring in 2027 with a possible option for 2028 if an alternative supplier is not ready. From what we have learned, Pirelli’s intention is to leave the circus at the end of the contract. Making this solution even more plausible is the statement from CEO Tronchetti Provera, made during a private meeting some time ago at the Milan presentation of Luca di Montezemolo’s film, regarding the company’s involvement in the circus: “If we have to do research and development with innovative content, then being in F1 makes sense; it does not if it is only a commercial matter for those who spend more money. If we talk about research and development, we will be there.”

So, a purely commercial presence is excluded. For Pirelli (but also for Michelin, which had set conditions when the F1 contract renewals were discussed), the matter moves to another level. Two factors come into play here. The first concerns Japan, with Bridgestone strongly interested in returning to the circus, so much so that it has been testing tyres with suitable specifications on a Superformula car (essentially a “stretched” F2 made in Japan) in collaboration with Toyota. On the other side is the recent agreement between the Korean company Hankook and the FIA, which hints at a subsequent major step toward the top category. In Bahrain, undercover, technicians from both companies were present to take a close look at the tests…

And it is precisely on this dualism that the renewal of the F1 supply will determine the future. Basically, a quiet bidding war has started, in which Pirelli is not interested. After all, from 2011, the year of its return to the circus, to 2027, it will have been 17 consecutive seasons in F1. Adding another couple or so seasons does not change much for Pirelli. Being a leader in high-end supply for GT and supercars, Pirelli could leave the circus and perhaps focus on MotoGP or other categories (in WEC, Michelin essentially dominates…). The next F1 supply tender is now awaited, expected by the end of the year, to see who between the Koreans and the Japanese will come out on top and what characteristics the tyres for the circus (and also F2 and F3…) will need to have.