2011 tyre decision may take ‘weeks’ yet – Pirelli

It may be “weeks” before F1’s new tyre supplier for 2011 and beyond is confirmed, Pirelli president Marco Tronchetti Provera said on Tuesday.

Despite a final recent push from Michelin, it is now expected that the Milan based company will succeed the departing Bridgestone as formula one’s sole supplier.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone left Turkey frustrated that a decision is being delayed, but the teams said they expected a solution within days.

“We need to sort this out this week because it is already very, very late for us,” said Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali before departing Istanbul.

On Tuesday, the bulk of the F1 world is busily travelling to Canada, making it clear that yet another race weekend will be dominated by the discussions about tyres.

But in Milan, Pirelli’s Provera indicated that he is not expecting an imminent conclusion.

“The decision will be taken soon.  It’s a question of weeks, not months,” he said.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Parisien published on Tuesday, FIA president Jean Todt also indicated that the process about selecting Bridgestone’s successor still has some road to run.

“It (the FIA) will soon launch a tender, with the commercial promoter of the championship, Bernie Ecclestone,” he said.

“FOTA may suggest that it decides, but the strong man is not he who speaks the loudest,” added Todt.

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