British GP: Bridgestone race notes

Bridgestone dominates in wet and dry

Contrary British weather played a crucial role in one of the most exciting races of the season so far which saw another win for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and six of the top seven cars on Bridgestone tyres. The Italian team scored its second 1-2 of the season with another ten points for Michael Schumacher. Rubens Barrichello's afternoon began dramatically when he failed to move off the grid on the formation lap and was forced to start from the back. After just six laps he had charged through to 8th position and six laps after the first pit-stop he moved into 2nd place. The race began and ended dry but rain around lap 13 saw the cars change to Bridgestone's intermediate tyres. This proved particularly useful for the Bridgestone runners who had qualified further down the grid, the competitiveness of the intermediates allowing many to chase through the field. Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda claimed their first points of the season with Jacques Villeneuve in 4th and Olivier Panis 5th. Nick Heidfeld was 6th for Sauber Petronas and Giancarlo Fisichella was just outside the points in 7th.

Bridgestone Results:

1st Michael Schumacher; 2nd Rubens Barrichello; 4th Jacques Villeneuve; 5th Olivier Panis; 6th Nick Heidfeld; 7th Giancarlo Fisichella; 9th Felipe Massa; DNF Takuma Sato; Enrique Bernoldi; Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Ross Brawn - Technical Director - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

"A spectacular race that kept us all very busy! We had the best tyres today, both in the dry and the wet. We were confused because our forecast was not for rain but when it came we had no choice but to change tyres. Then we made a further stop because we ran too long into the first dry period before the second lot of showers came. We don't know what Rubens' problem was at the start - the car stalled and the steering wheel displays indicated a problem but when we took it off everything seemed to be OK. He did a great job in the race."

David Richards - Team Principal - Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda

"The situation with the tyres was perfect. We did one quick change onto the intermediates and in all conditions we were on the right tyre. We had a helicopter pilot flying upwind throughout the race giving us information about the weather and he told us where the window was to change tyres. The intermediates hung on so well during the middle stint and the grooved tyre at the end was right on the pace too. The points are a good reward for everyone back at the factory."

Hisao Suganuma - Technical Manager - Bridgestone Motorsport

"I am very proud of our performance today. The overall result with all but one of the top seven cars on our tyres is down to the competitiveness of our intermediates in the damp conditions, and they survived reasonably well as the track dried out too. Congratulations to B.A.R on a strong performance. During the early laps and at the end, we also showed that our dry tyres were competitive. Nevertheless, we won't be sitting back, we will continue to work hard and improve."

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