Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone has assigned a personal tyre expert to Ferrari. Bridgestone president, Yoichiro Kaisaki, has made this gesture to the Italian team and appointed Bridgestone's Vice Sporting Director, Peter Gzerllynski, to the job. "We would like Peter to be accepted with the status he deserves", said Kaisaki.

Atlas F1 has learned that, during the week before the Japanese Grand Prix, Ferrari's president, Luca di Montezemolo, secretly met Kaisaki to discuss with him the future supply of tyres and to ensure that Ferrari will get "at least the same treatment as the other leading teams", as di Montezemolo put it. Following that meeting, the two presidents held negotiations over the contract between the Japanese and Italian teams which ended with a contract both side claim to be pleased with, whose details were not disclosed. However, it was recently revealed that Bridgestone has decided to aid Ferrari further and, as mentioned, appointed one of its senior executives as a personal expert to aid Ferrari and its drivers.

Ferrari is now the second team to receive such treatment from Bridgestone, with McLaren being the other team which is closely advised and helped by a Bridgestone expert, in the form of their Sporting Director, Hirohide Hamashima.