Tyre company Pirelli want to supply tyres to the 2011 field, but only if they can be the sole supplier.
The Italian company, which has only recently declared its interest in the sport, told Autosport that they would prefer a situation like the present one in which Bridgestone supply all the teams.
If agreed to, the teams would abandon proposals to run on Cooper/Avon tyres or Michelin ones.
“We prefer to be a sole supplier,” Pirelli’s racing manager Mario Isola told Autosport.
“Time is very short and so we prefer to be in the same situation that they are now.”
Potential conflict could arise between the company and the teams over the issue of tyre size. The teams would prefer to continue with the 13-inch incumbent tyres, while Pirelli would like to change them to an 18-inch spec more relevant to road technology.
“I know the teams would prefer to stay on 13-inch tyres, at least in order to have a period to be able to develop the car to the 18-inch tyre. It is a big change and I can imagine they would have to work a lot on the mechanical aspects of the car.
“The 18-inch tyre is much more interesting for us because it is very close to a road tyre, compared to the 13-inch tyre which nobody uses at the moment. The smallest cars have 14 or 15-inches, so it is quite a different tyre from what we see usually.
“But it is also true that it will be a different tyre – you cannot imagine that there will be an F1 tyre that is close to a road tyre. We will collect all the requirements from the teams in order to have a clear picture to start development, if we are successful and get a contract.”
