Fifteen years after leaving Formula 1, Bridgestone seems to have decided that watching others manufacture tires is no longer very exciting. The Japanese manufacturer is seriously preparing its return to the premier category and could submit a bid when the FIA launches its next tender for tire supply. This time, it's not just a name tossed around the paddock to fill a Sunday morning's conversation.
Bridgestone is preparing for 2029.
According to RacingNews365 , Bridgestone sent a high-level delegation to the Singapore and United States Grands Prix. Discussions were reportedly held behind the scenes to explore the possibility of a return. And this wouldn't be just for show.
The Japanese manufacturer is reportedly preparing a more ambitious technical, commercial, and financial proposal than the one submitted in the previous tender. Pirelli can therefore keep its heated tires. But perhaps it should start looking over its shoulder.
Not before 2029
However, there's no point in imagining Bridgestone tires on the cars as early as next season. Pirelli has secured its presence until the end of 2028. The Italian manufacturer has been the exclusive supplier to Formula 1 since 2011, and its contract, initially covering the period 2025-2027, included an additional option. This option was activated in 2026. The first theoretically available season for a change of supplier will therefore be 2029. And Bridgestone is perfectly familiar with the procedure.
During the previous tender process, the Japanese group had already attempted to win back the contract. Its bid was considered particularly strong, but Formula 1 ultimately chose to continue with Pirelli . Three years later, Bridgestone seems to want to return with an even more robust proposal.
A McLaren man at the center of the project
One detail lends even more credibility to the Japanese offensive: Hiroshi Imai.
A former Bridgestone executive , he joined McLaren in 2009 and held several key roles in race engineering for nearly sixteen years. He returned to Bridgestone in 2025 to take on major responsibilities in the motorsport division. He was also part of the delegation present in Singapore and Austin. It's hard to consider his recruitment entirely insignificant.
Bridgestone is not starting from scratch. The group already supplies IndyCar under the Firestone brand , remains involved in several Japanese championships, and will become the exclusive supplier of Formula E from the 2026-2027 season. In other words, international competition has once again become one of the pillars of its technological strategy.
Formula 1 would obviously be the ultimate showcase.
Pirelli is not yet beaten
However, care must be taken not to prematurely declare the Italian manufacturer's death four years too soon. Pirelli could very well decide to apply again. And its advantage is considerable.
By 2029, the company will have eighteen consecutive years of experience as the exclusive supplier to F1. It will have an in-depth knowledge of the new cars introduced in 2026, as well as their aerodynamic, mechanical, and energy constraints. For a competitor coming from outside the sport, catching up on this amount of data will be no easy task.
Bridgestone will therefore have to offer something compelling enough to convince the FIA and then Formula 1 to change an already perfectly established system. And it might not be alone.
Hankook is regularly mentioned among the interested manufacturers, while Michelin 's name is also circulating in connection with the upcoming tender. A real trade war could therefore be brewing. Not a tire war like in the early 2000s, when several manufacturers battled directly on the track: F1 remains committed to the principle of a single supplier.
But a war for the right to be that supplier.
The return of a giant
For Bridgestone , the story would inevitably have a special flavor. The Japanese brand entered F1 permanently in 1997 and experienced the era of battles against Goodyear and then Michelin , before becoming the sole supplier from 2007. It notably supported Ferrari during part of the Michael Schumacher era and left the sport at the end of the 2010 season.
Pirelli then took up the mantle.
Nineteen years after its last Grand Prix, Bridgestone could therefore return to the grid in 2029. There remains a tender process to launch, a proposal to submit, a selection by the FIA , and then commercial negotiations with Formula 1. In other words, a long way to go before seeing the Japanese logo on an F1 tire again.
But one thing has changed. Bridgestone is no longer just looking at the door. He has clearly just placed his hand on the handle.
And for Pirelli, this is already information to be taken very seriously.
🚨BRIDGESTONE COULD RETURN TO FORMULA 1! 👀
The Japanese tire manufacturer is reportedly preparing a serious bid to return to F1 from 2029.
Senior Bridgestone representatives have attended recent Grands Prix, holding discussions behind the scenes.
Pirelli's current contract… pic.twitter.com/c7q90DTNIJ
— Everything Formula (@evrythngformu1a) October 26, 2026
