Formula One has proven too rich for yet another company. This time it was tyre-maker Bridgestone, who announced that it would no longer supply tyres to F1 after the end of the 2010 season.

It's bad news for a sport which is also facing the withdrawal of BMW and Honda, but the announcement is more far-reaching than that. It's part of a trend that will prove to be a serious blow for the motor industry in general.

The deal wasn't just to cough up parts. Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: "Bridgestone's relationship with Formula One stretches beyond being a tyre supplier. Formula One has been of strategic importance to Bridgestone in developing its technologies."

Essentially it cutting back on the area which helped it produce anything cutting edge, or ground breaking. It has said it is 'streamlining' it's R&D rather than cutting it, but without the competitive element of a regular date with the track, it's likely to encourage the company to take its foot off the gas.

This sort of thing is happening everywhere in the cash-strapped motor industry. If it's not going to ensure your survival for the immediate future, it is being axed.

If companies start cutting back on development, this could be yet more bad news for car-makers, as it is an industry that thrives on re-invention. Without something to upgrade to, new car sales are going to grind to a halt.

More to the point, without the latest sophisticated must-have leaving tyre tracks on the Top Gear track, life is going to get decidedly more dull.

And there was you thinking this was just about F1...