“We hope that the launch of the Make Cars Green tyre will draw public attention to the many environmental initiatives in and around Formula One,” explained Bridgestone CEO Shoshi Arakawa. “Environmental preservation is at the centre of our work at the Bridgestone Group and we hope that this collaboration with the FIA will help to spread this ethos worldwide.”
Next season energy regenerating hybrid devices will be introduced to Formula One racing. This adoption of KERS technology is just one of a number of initiatives launched by the sport to improve its environmental credentials and, hopefully, help accelerate the use of fuel-efficient technology on public roads.
“New rule changes, alongside the support for awareness-raising initiatives such as the Make Cars Green campaign, will change the face of motor sport and place it at the very heart of environmental developments in the automotive sector,” explained Max Mosley, President of the FIA, Formula One racing's governing body. “The FIA is determined to ensure that future investment in motor sport will also help drive the development of technologies that will benefit the public at large.”
McLaren team mates Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were in attendance at the Tokyo launch, alongside Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.
“Im really pleased to help support this campaign, the new tyre for Fuji is a great way of using the sport to send a positive message to a massive global audience,” said Raikkonen. “But its not only about marketing, F1 attracts some of the best engineers in the world. I think some of the most important work theyve done has been in terms of safety, its improved hugely in recent years.
“If the safety and the new green technology lessons learned in motorsport are applied to motoring then the sport will have played a really important part in saving lives as well as perhaps helping to save the planet.”
Hamilton added: “Since it first launched Ive been happy to help promote the very positive messages of the Make Cars Green campaign. It is a subject that goes far beyond racing. The car is an incredibly positive thing and I think the messages of the campaign help to show us that we can all choose to drive in a greener way.
“The new Make Cars Green tyre that all the teams will be running on in Fuji is a great way to promote the campaign and a real first for Formula One. The sport can also help in other ways, especially with the launch of new energy efficient technologies next season.”
The Make Cars Green campaign aims to reduce the impact of motoring on the environment in a number of ways, such as through the promotion of fuel efficient driver behaviour; the introduction of new technologies to help motorists monitor their environmental impact; the improvement of tyre design to help save energy; and by encouraging the global use of unleaded and sulphur free fuels.
The softer of the two Bridgestone tyres used at Fuji this weekend will retain its central white groove as normal.
formula1.com
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