Bridgestone: Gen4 Typhoon tyre could keep Formula E racing in heavy rain

Bridgestone's new Typhoon tyre is designed to help Formula E keep racing in heavy rain. Speaking to e-Formula.news, technical chief Emilio Tiberio explained that races under such conditions have sometimes been unable to take place at all, or only under suboptimal circumstances. However, the exact crossover point between the all-weather and heavy-rain tyres is still unclear: all parties involved will first need to gain experience with the new concept.

With the switch to Gen4, Formula E is introducing a dedicated heavy-rain tyre specification alongside its familiar all-weather tyre for the first time. Bridgestone calls the new tyre Potenza Gen4 for Typhoon Tyre. While the all-weather tyre is still designed to cover a broad range from dry to wet conditions, the Typhoon tyre is intended specifically for large amounts of standing water and significantly more difficult conditions.

The challenges posed by heavy rain have become apparent several times over the past two seasons. Sessions were cancelled in Berlin and Tokyo in 2025, while Free Practice 3 in Tokyo also failed to take place in 2026 because of heavy rain. During the Gen3 era, Hankook's all-weather tyre was the only option available for such conditions, and for the Gen3 Evo in Seasons 11 and 12 it was even further optimised for dry-weather performance.

Speaking to e-Formula.news, Bridgestone West CTO Emilio Tiberio explained in more detail why the additional tyre was considered necessary.

"We saw that in heavy rain, races sometimes could not take place at all, or only under suboptimal conditions," Tiberio said. "First of all, we want to improve safety in Formula E. At the same time, we also want to make sure that more racing is possible in those conditions."

Optimal crossover point between the tyres still unclear

One open question is where the optimal crossover point between the two tyres will lie under real race conditions. Once the track has been declared wet, teams can choose between the all-weather and rain tyres, but there is still no competitive experience to draw on. "We have given the teams some initial guidelines," Tiberio explained. "But it is just as new for them as it is for all of us. So we will learn a lot as the season goes on."

The two tyres also differ significantly from a technical point of view. According to Tiberio, one key difference is the temperature window in which they have to operate. "The rain tyre has to work at significantly lower temperatures because the rain cools the tyres down considerably. That is also why the contact patch differs from the all-weather tyre." Tiberio still describes both compounds as high-performance racing tyres, but stresses that they are designed for distinctly different temperature and track conditions.

For the Typhoon tyre, Bridgestone uses, among other things, silica derived from rice husks and a tread pattern designed to disperse large volumes of water. This is intended to provide traction and stable handling even in heavy rain. James Rossiter has also recently described just how high the performance potential could be under such conditions.

More safety & more racing in heavy rain

How large the Typhoon tyre's actual operating window will be, and where the optimal crossover point to the all-weather tyre lies, will only become clear under race conditions. Bridgestone's objective, however, is clear: the additional specification is intended not only to improve safety in heavy rain, but also to allow Formula E to keep racing more often in difficult conditions.