Japanese manufacturer Bridgestone is set to make its long-awaited return to an FIA world championship for the first time since stepping away from grand prix racing at the conclusion of the 2010 season. The major strategic shift ends a prolonged period where the firm's global motorsport focus was redirected toward supporting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The landmark agreement will see Bridgestone serve as the sole tyre supplier for Formula E across a four-season deal, spanning from the 2026/27 campaign through to the 2029/30 season, taking over the role from Hankook as the championship enters its upcoming Gen4 technical regulations.
Bridgestone CEO Yasuhiro Morita revealed that the renewed pull toward top-tier motorsport originated internally from the workforce itself, prompting executive leadership to re-evaluate the company's competitive positioning on the global stage.
Reflecting on the decision, Morita noted in an interview: "It's obviously very exciting. After we left Formula 1 in 2010, we supported the Olympics, Paralympics and other sporting events. It was also wonderful for us as a very strong global platform. What was missing was a product at the centre of that support. So that does, in some sense, but not really directly, help us improve our technologies."
The internal momentum proved overwhelming for management, with the vast majority of employees voicing a strong desire to re-engage with elite motorsport competition under the FIA banner.
"And most of our team-mates, I would say, I don't know, I didn't count, but about 99%, I would say, really said, 'We want to go back, we want to go back to an FIA World Championship.' Bridgestone is a global company, not a local company, and everybody wants to go back. So the voice of the employees is there, and that helps me and the management teams to move forward with this," Morita explained.
Having joined Bridgestone in April 1996, Morita experienced the brand's entire initial Formula 1 tenure from its arrival in 1997 to its departure in 2010. Currently sitting second behind Michelin in the global tyre manufacturer rankings after holding the top spot for 11 years until 2021, Morita draws direct parallels to the mindset required when the company first entered grand prix racing.
Beyond the confirmed Formula E partnership, industry sources indicate that Bridgestone is actively pursuing an even wider motorsport comeback, targeting a potential return to Formula 1 for the 2029 tyre tender following exploratory paddock discussions during recent grand prix weekends.
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