Goodyear losing grip

LONDON: Bridgestone has snared another leading team for its second Formula One season.

Benetton joins McLaren as defectors from Goodyear, which has announced it will withdraw from F1 at the end of the year.

But F1 insiders suggest this is a ploy by Goodyear to rid itself of the burden of supplying the majority of the teams so it can continue with just Williams and Ferrari which have shown little interest in jumping ship to Bridgestone.