Bridgestone, Microsoft Get Exclusive F1 Contracts

[madmatt]

Bridgestone and Microsoft have been granted exclusive contracts to be the sole suppliers, of tires and ECUs respectively, of Formula 1 beginning in 2008.

The announcement was made following this Wednesday's meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris.

The move to a single tire supplier and standardized ECUs (Electronic Control Units, responsible for a car's engine management) is part of the FIA's radical cost-saving package announced earlier this year for introduction in '08. Both Bridgestone and Microsoft will supply F1 through 2010.

In the specific case of the Japanese tire company, its monopoly will go in effect already next year, as rivals Michelin are set to pull out of the sport by this season's end.

In addition, the WMSC also announced that due to a significant increase in cornering speeds in F1 this season, the sport's Technical Working Group will be consulted regarding possible measures to slow the cars down.

Source: SPEEDtv.com (via Bink.nu)

 

[gonaads]

I can see it now, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Grand Priz has been cancelled due to BSODs on all entries. Re-starts have been iniciated but we are now experiencing an 'Endless Loop" situation'. We appologize for this inconvenience and we would refund to all your ticket fees but the cashiers' registers are also experiencing BSOD problems".

 

[madmatt]

I *knew* someone was going to say that. =]

 

[gonaads]

Heh heh heh, I just couldn't leave that alone.

 

[gonaads]

And a follow-up on the current situation at the Grand Prix. It has been reported from all the pit crews that their diagnostic equipment can not interface with the new ECUs due to driver incompatability. No new drivers have been released from Microsoft, but they will look into it. Microsoft feels that it is a hardware issue and not the ECUs. Workaround for this is to pull all ECUs and re-install originals from prior to upgrade/consolidation.

 

[j79zlr]

Gentlemen, restart your engines!!

 

[NetRyder]

The responses couldn't get any more predictable.