Hembery Says Pirelli Has Extended Deal With F1 For Three Years

Paul Hembery

Pirelli Motorsport Dir Paul Hembery said that the Italian tiremaker has signed a new deal and will continue to supply F1 with its product.

"It's done, everything is done. I mean you have the lawyers to sign off. You have three groups, you got the teams, you got the promoter and the FIA, but it's done," Hembery said at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. While Hembery did not go into detail about the new deal, it is expected that Pirelli will extend its expiring three-year deal for another three years and remain F1's tire supplier through ’16.

Pirelli has been F1’s sole tire supplier since '11 following Bridgestone's withdrawal from the series. Asked how important the F1 deal is for the company, Hembery said, "It’s something that we want to do. The reasons we entered the sport remain the same. It’s a huge global platform. It does go across the world; it’s unique in that. It has a very large global reach."

While the F1 World Championship has become a truly global sport, the majority of its teams, drivers and fans are still largely European-based. Hembery: "It needs to grow even more outside of Europe. It still has a lot of European-based fans, but we are seeing it. We come here to the U.S. and see a huge level of interest in a country that apparently wasn’t very keen on Formula One, and judging by the people who are coming that’s not strictly true."