British GP: Bridgestone race notes

Perfect ten for Bridgestone and Ferrari
Fisi flies for Sauber Petronas as he drives from the back of the grid to finish sixth

Michael Schumacher claimed his tenth win of the season on his Bridgestone Potenza Formula One tyres today, giving the World Champion his 80th career win and a 26 point lead in the drivers' standings. It was by no means a foregone conclusion, however, and it took some stunning driving by the maestro to buy enough time to come out of his pitstop ahead of poleman and initial race leader Kimi Raikkonen.

Rubens Barrichello too, had to fight for his third place podium and is now the only driver to have finish on the podium in all Grands Prix so far this season an incredible achievement. Sauber Petronas' Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa were also on top form with a sterling performance from the Italian which saw him drive his way from the back of the grid to claim three points for sixth. Massa was unlucky to miss out on a point but ensured four Bridgestone runners in the top ten finishers.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager Bridgestone Motorsport:

"Win number ten and another podium for Rubens fantastic! I'm delighted this win was Michael's 80th of his career, it is a remarkable feat. Today's race highlighted the strong points of the Bridgestone tyre performance. I was very pleased with the tyres we brought here this weekend which, as Ferrari and Sauber both demonstrated, were ideally suited to giving our runners the best possible chance.

"It was particularly pleasing to see Giancarlo take another three points although a shame for Felipe who just missed out on a points scoring position. Nevertheless it was a great performance today. On a final note I would like to mention the brave performance of the Minardi team today who competed under very difficult circumstances."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"We'd seen during testing that the Bridgestone tyres were very consistent but Michael wasn't entirely happy with the car going into qualifying so we thought we'd play it a little conservative. Rubens was much happier with the car and wanted to have an aggressive strategy. As it turned out, Michael's car was good in the race and Rubens' car wasn't quite there. Probably the conditions that came up the overnight rain or the wind just tilted it in Michael's favour."

"He put in one of the most stunning laps and I was shocked when he came out in front of Kimi because I knew it would be close but I hadn't appreciated how much of a gap he'd managed to make on him. Our Bridgestone tyres are fantastic. But for me it was very special to be up on the podium today, you never get tired of it! "

Willy Rampf, Technical Director Sauber Petronas:

"We've made a clear step forward in our performance with the new aero package for Silverstone which gives us more downforce and more stability. The Bridgestone tyre we've had here has been very consistent and the race pace has been at a very high level. We lost some time behind the Michelin cars: Montoya and Webber were clearly slower than us. Bridgestone tyres were very quick today and to finish 12 seconds behind the leader is very encouraging."

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