The tyre supply deal between Bridgestone and Formula E will run from the 2026 to 2030 season.
Bridgestone has recently been named by the FIA as sole future tyre supplier for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship starting in the 2026-2027 season. Usurping the current tyre suppliers Hankook, the Japanese tyre manufacturer will be responsible in supplying the rubber on the all-electric motorsport series’ revised GEN4 racers through to 2030.
This new supply agreement signed between Bridgestone and the FIA will mark the first time for the Japanese tyre maker supplying rubber to a single-seater world championship since leaving Formula 1 at the end of 2010. Bridgestone incidentally did previously enter a competitive tender process for an F1 return last year, but eventually lost out to Pirelli who have the contract till 2027.
Though on the topic of Pirelli, the Italian tyre manufacturer will be replaced as the tyre supplier in the World Rally Championship (WRC) by Hankook come 2025. The South Korean tyre maker is set to supply rubber to these top flight rally cars for the next three years from then on.
Now getting back to Bridgestone, it has stated that this new Formula E supply agreement will serve as a cornerstone for the expansion and enhancement of “ENLITEN” tire product technology. It further adds that its comeback into motorsports will further its development into “ultimate customization” that will define its “new premium in the EV era”.
The Japanese tyre manufacturer continues to state that it will strive to develop and refine sustainable technology and accelerate innovation to deliver value where it “produces” and “uses” tires, and then “renews” them to raw materials. Under the company’s mission “serving society with superior quality”, Bridgestone proclaims itself to be dedicated to shaping the future of mobility through the products it supplies as part of its sustainable global motorsports initiatives.
Currently, Bridgestone will be developing two tyres based on the official Formula E tender: ‘baseline’ and ‘typhoon’. The tender details that the baseline tyres are grooved, all-weather tyres as currently used in Formula E, with the FIA also stating explicitly that these rubber ‘must guarantee sufficient grip to ensure safe racing in light rain’.
The ‘typhoon’ tyres on the other hand will be used specifically for racing in severe wet conditions, with its main performance target being to ‘guarantee safe driving in heavy rain’. Formula E had also looked to adopt slick tyres for this upcoming GEN4 era, but there is no word from Bridgestone or the series organiser yet on whether such a tyre for this all-electric motorsport series will be a reality or not.
