From Pirelli and Goodyear to Bridgestone, Michelin and Dunlop, Formula 1’s tyre history has been shaped by manufacturers whose competition was often every bit as intense as the battle between the teams themselves.
Tyres have always been one of Formula 1’s most influential performance variables. Engines, aerodynamics and suspension attract much of the technical attention, but every force generated by an F1 car ultimately has to pass through four relatively small contact patches.
Across the history of the Formula 1 World Championship, a surprisingly diverse group of tyre manufacturers has appeared. Some became defining names of their respective eras; others made only fleeting appearances.
The list includes Pirelli, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop, Firestone, Continental, Englebert and Avon, while several smaller or highly limited suppliers also appeared in the championship’s earlier decades.
Their stories also chart Formula 1’s gradual transition from genuine tyre wars to the tightly controlled single-supplier system used today.
Pirelli
Pirelli’s Formula 1 history stretches almost as far back as the championship itself.
The Italian manufacturer supplied tyres during the inaugural 1950 season and was associated with some of the championship’s earliest successes, including Alfa Romeo’s dominant opening era.
Its participation was far from continuous. Pirelli left and returned several times, competing during periods including the 1980s and early 1990s before disappearing from Formula 1 after 1991.
Its most significant return came in 2011, when Pirelli became Formula 1’s sole tyre supplier following Bridgestone’s withdrawal.
That transformed its role. Instead of competing directly against another tyre company, Pirelli was tasked with producing tyres to Formula 1’s required performance characteristics. The brief has changed repeatedly since then, encompassing intentionally high degradation, wider tyres introduced in 2017 and the move from 13-inch to 18-inch wheels in 2022.
Modern F1 tyre strategy is consequently built almost entirely around Pirelli’s compound range.
Goodyear
No tyre manufacturer has started more Formula 1 grands prix than Goodyear.
The American company entered Formula 1 in the 1960s and became one of the championship’s dominant suppliers, competing through several dramatically different technical eras.
Its presence coincided with some of F1’s most recognisable cars and drivers, while its rivalries with Firestone, Michelin, Pirelli and eventually Bridgestone repeatedly turned tyres into a competitive battleground.
Goodyear’s final period came during the 1990s. Bridgestone entered Formula 1 in 1997 and quickly provided serious opposition, but Goodyear withdrew after the 1998 season.
Its statistical legacy remains immense: Goodyear tyres were used for 368 Formula 1 World Championship victories, a record unmatched by any other tyre manufacturer.
Bridgestone
Bridgestone arrived in Formula 1 in 1997 and required remarkably little time to establish itself.
The Japanese manufacturer challenged Goodyear almost immediately and supplied tyres to Mika Häkkinen’s McLaren during his 1998 world championship campaign.
Its next great chapter came with Ferrari.
Bridgestone developed a particularly close technical relationship with the Scuderia during Michael Schumacher’s period of dominance, contributing to Ferrari’s five consecutive drivers’ championships between 2000 and 2004.
That relationship became particularly important during the tyre-war era against Michelin. Tyres could be developed around the characteristics of individual cars and teams, making the interaction between chassis and tyre construction a major performance differentiator.
After Michelin left Formula 1 at the end of 2006, Bridgestone became the championship’s sole supplier from 2007.
It remained in that position until withdrawing after 2010, when Pirelli took over.
Michelin
Few periods demonstrate the significance of tyre competition better than Michelin’s battles with Bridgestone.
Michelin first entered Formula 1 in 1977, bringing radial tyre technology into a championship still dominated by conventional cross-ply designs. Its arrival coincided with Renault’s turbocharged project, placing two major technical developments at the centre of Formula 1’s changing competitive landscape.
Michelin became a race-winning force and supplied several leading teams before leaving after 1984.
Its return in 2001 started another major tyre war.
BMW-Williams and McLaren-Mercedes became prominent Michelin teams, while Renault later used the French manufacturer’s tyres during Fernando Alonso’s championship-winning campaigns in 2005 and 2006.
The period also produced one of Formula 1’s most infamous tyre controversies.
At the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, concerns over Michelin tyre safety through the banked Turn 13 led all Michelin-equipped cars to withdraw before the start. Only the six Bridgestone-shod cars competed.
Michelin left Formula 1 after the 2006 season, ending the championship’s most recent full-scale tyre war.
Dunlop
Dunlop was one of the dominant forces of Formula 1’s early decades.
Its tyres became closely associated with British constructors as teams such as Cooper and Lotus transformed grand prix racing through lightweight chassis and rear-engined designs.
Dunlop supplied the tyres for numerous championship-winning campaigns and was particularly formidable around the turn of the 1960s.
Its success was intertwined with drivers including Jack Brabham, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart, whose careers spanned a period of extraordinary technical change.
Dunlop eventually withdrew from Formula 1 during the 1970s, but its influence on the championship’s formative decades remains substantial.
Firestone
Before becoming synonymous with American racing, Firestone also played a significant role in Formula 1.
The American company became a major competitor during the 1960s and early 1970s, fighting Goodyear and Dunlop as tyre competition intensified.
Firestone-equipped cars won grands prix and championships during this period, with the company’s Formula 1 involvement closely connected to Lotus and other leading constructors.
Its withdrawal during the 1970s left Goodyear in an increasingly powerful position and contributed to the American company’s later dominance of the championship’s tyre supply.
Continental
Continental’s Formula 1 involvement was relatively short but remarkably successful.
The German manufacturer was closely linked with Mercedes-Benz during its formidable 1954-55 grand prix programme.
Juan Manuel Fangio won the drivers’ world championship in both seasons, while Mercedes established the W196 as one of the defining cars of Formula 1’s first decade.
Mercedes withdrew from motorsport at the end of 1955, bringing Continental’s major Formula 1 involvement to an end as well.
Its time in the championship was brief, but the results give Continental a disproportionately important place in early F1 history.
Englebert
Belgian manufacturer Englebert is another name strongly associated with Formula 1’s 1950s era.
It became an important Ferrari supplier and its tyres were used during several of the Italian team’s early championship successes.
Englebert’s Formula 1 story also reflects the dangers of the period. Tyre technology was developing alongside rapidly increasing vehicle performance at a time when circuit and car safety remained rudimentary by modern standards.
The company eventually disappeared from Formula 1 as the tyre industry consolidated and competitors including Dunlop became increasingly influential.
Avon
Avon’s Formula 1 presence was considerably smaller than those of Goodyear, Michelin or Pirelli.
The British manufacturer supplied tyres during parts of the late 1950s and returned during the early 1980s, primarily serving smaller teams rather than establishing itself as a championship-winning force.
That second period came during a particularly competitive tyre market, with Goodyear and Michelin possessing considerably greater resources and relationships with the leading constructors.
Avon’s involvement was therefore relatively short-lived, but it remains part of the unusually varied history of Formula 1 tyre suppliers.
When Formula 1’s tyre wars became part of the championship fight
For much of Formula 1 history, choosing a tyre supplier could be almost as important as choosing an engine.
Competition encouraged manufacturers to develop constructions and compounds aggressively, sometimes around the requirements of particular teams. A car designed to exploit one manufacturer’s tyre characteristics could hold a significant advantage over machinery using a rival product.
The Bridgestone-Michelin battle of the early 2000s was perhaps the clearest modern example.
Ferrari became Bridgestone’s principal competitive weapon, while Michelin supplied several leading rivals. Different tyres performed better under different temperatures, track surfaces and loads, meaning the competitive order could shift significantly between circuits.
It produced rapid development, but also considerable cost and occasional controversy.
Michelin’s departure after 2006 effectively ended that philosophy. Bridgestone became the sole supplier before Pirelli assumed the role in 2011.
Why Formula 1 now uses a single tyre supplier
Modern Formula 1 no longer asks tyre manufacturers to compete against one another. Instead, the championship specifies a framework and Pirelli supplies every team.
The objective is fundamentally different.
A tyre war encourages manufacturers to build the fastest possible product for their customers. A control supplier must instead balance performance, safety, durability, strategic variation and the requirements established by Formula 1 and the FIA.
That distinction explains why modern F1 tyres cannot simply be judged by whether they could last longer or produce more grip. Their behaviour is partly designed around the type of racing Formula 1 wants to create.
It is a very different world from the eras in which Goodyear fought Firestone, Michelin challenged Bridgestone or Dunlop dominated the grid. Yet the underlying importance of the tyre has never changed.
Aerodynamics may determine how much downforce an F1 car generates and the power unit how rapidly it can accelerate, but neither matters without the tyre beneath it. Across more than seven decades of Formula 1, the names printed on those sidewalls have quietly helped decide championships.
