Times to tumble with traction control - but not yet...

Traction control will be legally re-introduced to Grand Prix racing in Spain this weekend, but Suganuma says that until they are more familiar with its characteristics, Bridgestone and its arch-rival Michelin will be unlikely to exploit the benefits immediately. In the longer term, however, he believes that reduced wear rates will allow the use of softer compounds - and lead to a further escalation in lap times.

"At the moment, it's difficult to say for sure what will happen," he said. "At this stage, we don't have enough proper running with traction control, but it does seem that degradation is less with it. That means it will look after the rear tyres better, so we can go softer with our options. But we'll have to develop the right compounds to exploit that."

For this weekend's Spanish GP, Suganuma is expecting lap times to possibly even increase relative to a non-traction control benchmark in the same configuration of car.

"The limiting of power one gets with traction control may mean that lap times grow, so drivers will not want to rely on it too much if they are to make the most of the extra grip."

Barcelona is one of the most severe tests of the durability of a tyre. It's abrasive surface and long middle-to-high speed corners mean that Bridgestone is expecting most of its teams to adopt a two-stop strategy.