The dramatic sight of Damon Hill’s Bridgestone-shod Arrows overtaking the Goodyear-rubbered Ferrari of old rival Michael Schumacher for the lead in the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix is one of the enduring images of the decade in Formula 1. For a different reason, so was the sight of Schumacher, now with Bridgestones on his Prancing Horse, leading away a grid of six cars at Indianapolis in 2005 after the withdrawal of Michelin’s runners on safety grounds.
Tyre wars have been missing from F1 since Michelin’s departure at the end of 2006. Long-serving Bridgestone engineer Kees van der Grint regards it as a seminal moment in recent motorsport history because, in the years since, competition between tyre companies has been slowly disappearing from categories around the world.
