Brazilian GP: Bridgestone Friday qualifying notes

Rain turns qualifying into lottery

Round three of the FIA Formula One World Championship got off to a rainy start today in Brazil with the first wet qualifying session of the season. Rubens Barrichello took full advantage of his Bridgestone intermediates at the Interlagos circuit posting the second fastest time of the session. The local Brazilian hero's time of 1m23.249 was only narrowly beaten by one tenth of a second by Jaguar's Mark Webber, who had the benefit of a drying track.

On a day which has seen weather conditions swing at a moment's notice from dry to wet conditions and back again, many drivers were caught out - including fellow Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher - by the combination of the weather and the new single lap qualifying format. Today's results will make for an interesting line up in tomorrow's final qualifying.

This morning's red flagged interrupted free practice session saw plenty of action with Bridgestone's runners faring well in the tricky rain conditions. Whilst Schumacher topped the times, Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda's Jenson Button was third fastest. Unfortunately for the Briton, a mistake on his qualifying lap this afternoon left him without a time. However, the young driver can clearly be expected to be on the pace this weekend.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport:

"That was a difficult session as conditions varied. For example, in comparison to Rubens' lap, Michael had much wetter conditions after which it then dried up again. We have a situation where if we are limited to one wet tyre, most teams will choose a wet tyre that is connected to the dry range - and that is an intermediate tyre. But if we have heavy rain conditions as seen in this morning's practice session, drivers on intermediates will struggle. If we have to run in these conditions, we should have at least two types of wet tyre from which to choose."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"Rubensdid a super lap with the right amount of water on track for the Bridgestone tyres we had. However I would like the one wet tyre rule reconsidered because it compromises safety. At the moment we have to find the best compromise we can for all conditions."

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