Tyre supplier Goodyear has already shown this year that they can fight back in a major way. Now they are looking to end their last season in Formula One with the Drivers Championship title.

They have set-up a test program with Williams and Ferrari, trying out a new tyre type, speculated to be half a second quicker. Bridgestone, on the other hand, will use in Suzuka the same tyre type they have used this year, but have the advantage of testing at the Suzuka track more than their competitor. Either way, drivers and team owners both with the Goodyear-shod cars and the Bridgestone's agreed that tyres may well be the factor to decide this year's Championship battle, as both Championship contenders - McLaren and Ferrari - are fairly close in terms of performance.