Australia preview quotes: Bridgestone

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "The move to slick tyres is significant, although Bridgestone have a lot of experience with these tyres from many different race series so we are confident that we can produce good racing slicks.

"We are making these tyres to the same sizes as we had with grooved tyres, but this means there is a new front/rear grip balance. The teams will therefore have to work hard to get a good set-up, particularly with the varying surface of Albert Park, and we will be working closely with everyone to achieve this."

Q. How big a challenge will it be for competitors having a non-consecutive allocation?

HH: "I think it has the potential to be a big challenge. We received many requests last season to make the difference between the two compounds greater, so we have attempted to do this by not only having a different compound stiffness, but also varying the temperature working range of the tyres.

"We have sought to allocate one tyre which has a lower working range and one which has a higher working range. This means that, even more than before, competitors will have to think long and hard about how they use their tyres, and there will be good rewards for those who make the best choices."