The specifications for the first nine events will be the same as those used in 2007, except for the Bahrain Grand Prix, where the teams will be allocated the medium and soft compounds instead of the hard and medium ones provided last season. In another slight change, the super-soft tyre, set to be used at the Monaco Grand Prix, has been modified from the compound used last year.
“Tyre allocation choice for the first half of the season has been made easier by the continuity of our tyres from last year,” explained Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone Motorsport's director of motorsport tyre development. “We have made a minor evolutionary change to the construction of the dry tyres for safety and we have modified the super soft compound, but apart from that the tyres are the same.
“However, we should see faster lap times as teams and drivers now have a year's experience with these tyres and the cars are being developed all the time. In the second half of the season we will have more of a challenge with tyre allocation as we visit two new street courses at Valencia and Singapore. These will be announced at a later date.”
As in 2007, the regulations state that each driver will receive 14 sets of dry tyres for a Grand Prix (seven of each compound), in addition to four sets of wet tyres and three sets of extreme wet tyres. The softer of the two specification Potenzas at each race will once again be marked by a white line painted in the base of the second from inside groove.
Looking beyond this season, Bridgestone also announced this week that they plan to test slick tyres again in April, ahead of their possible return in 2009.
Tyre compounds for the first nine Grands Prix of 2008:
Australia - soft, medium
Malaysia - medium, hard
Bahrain - soft, medium
Spain - medium, hard
Turkey - medium, hard
Monaco - super-soft, soft
Canada - super-soft, soft
France - soft, medium
Britain - medium, hard
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