Brazilian GP: Bridgestone Friday practice notes

Rubens sets the pace in Brazil for Bridgestone

Local hero Rubens Barrichello set the pace today in front of his home fans as he topped the time sheets with an impressive lap time of 1m11.166s in the second of today's two practice sessions. Fellow Bridgestone runner and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro teammate Michael Schumacher was hot on his heels setting the second fastest time of the day, just 0.168 seconds behind.

The teams experienced an extremely "green" track this morning but once rubber began to settle on the circuit, the Bridgestone teams got stuck into their tyre evaluation programmes. Having experienced a lack of car balance in the morning, the Ferrari pair also settled down, soon displaying their usual turn of speed.

The Sauber Petronas, Jordan Ford and Minardi Cosworth teams were pushing hard today with Sauber's Brazilian hope Felipe Massa finishing his day eighth fastest. Minardi's Gianmaria Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner seemed intent on finishing their season on a high with Bruni finishing his second session ahead of both Christian Klien and Bjorn Wirdheim of Jaguar.

Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager:

"The track was very green this morning which is why we saw some graining on the tyres, particularly the softer specs. But as the track rubbered in this afternoon, the graining reduced substantially, revealing the true performance of the Bridgestone tyres. I expect the Bridgestone runners to be strong this weekend."

"If you look not just at the two Ferrari cars, but also the Sauber cars, you can see the competitive nature of the specifications we have brought here this weekend. Noticeably, the Minardi cars, too, were running well, with Gimmi Bruni setting a time just over two seconds off Rubens Barrichello's pace. I was impressed also with the work Robert Doornbos put in today. All in all, first indications are looking good."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"We had two good sessions today. The car wasn't balanced first thing this morning but as the track cleaned up and once the engineers made a few adjustments, the car seems very good. We tried both specifications of Bridgestone tyres and think it will be a close decision between the two types, both of which are consistent. If we can make more progress tomorrow we should be in good shape for the race."

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