Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli is unlikely to return to Formula One in 2011, to replace the outgoing Bridgestone as the sport's official tyre supplier. With Bridgestone having announced on Monday that it would not be renewing its three-year deal after it expires in 2010, the sport's governing body the FIA must re-open the tender process for 2011.

Pirelli last supplied tyres to a Formula One team in 1991, winning just one race that year. Pirelli also supplied F1 tyres in the fifties, and the early eighties from 1981 to 1986, before returning in 1989 for its final stint. In the 205 races it has entered, it has won 44 times, and lies sixth in the all-time list of tyre suppliers' victories.

“Pirelli prefers to develop tyres for racing that will also be used on the road,” a Pirelli spokesperson told Manipe F1. “'The company's position has not changed.” Pirelli will supply the GP3 series, GP2's feeder category, from 2010 while it is also the single tyre supplier of the Superbike and World Rally Championships.