Formula 1

European GP: Bridgestone race notes

Michael Schumacher & Bridgestone win European GP Michael Schumacher took a thrilling European Grand Prix win in front of his crowds to give Bridgestone its 97th win since entering Formula One in 1997. For Schumacher it is his 86th win of his ...

Published: May 7, 2006, 10:51 PM

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Michael Schumacher & Bridgestone win European GP

Michael Schumacher took a thrilling European Grand Prix win in front of his crowds to give Bridgestone its 97th win since entering Formula One in 1997. For Schumacher it is his 86th win of his career.

Teammate Felipe Massa made it a double podium celebration for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and Bridgestone as he crossed the line in third, giving him his first ever F1 podium. Schumacher and Ferrari continue to lie in second place in the respective Drivers' and Constructors' Championship standings.

Next across the finishing line for Bridgestone was WilliamsF1's Nico Rosberg who drove a very impressive race from the back of the grid to seventh place. Unfortunately his teammate Mark Webber, who was running up with the front runners, stopped on track with a hydraulics problem. Panasonic Toyota Racing's Jarno Trulli finished ninth while his teammate, Ralf Schumacher, also failed to finish.

Meanwhile, MF1 Racing's Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers both acquitted themselves well to take the flag in 12th and 13th places respectively. It was a disappointing weekend, however, for Super Aguri F1's drivers Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny, neither of whom finished the race. The Formula One circus now moves on to Spain where the competition is expected to really hot up.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport:

"We're delighted to see Michael win here at his home grand prix as the tyres have been performing well this weekend. Massa was also able to use the tyres to his best advantage and take third place. What was particularly pleasing, however, was that it was not only the two Ferraris but also WilliamsF1's Nico Rosberg and Toyota's Ralf Schumacher who also had strong races. Nico's climb from the back of the grid to seventh place showed very solid driving. It's just a shame that Mark Webber didn't finish as he could well have finished in the top six."

"From a tyre performance point of view we are pleased. This was the same range of tyres which ran in Imola two weeks ago and we didn't encounter any problems during the race. We shall now continue to develop the tyres in this direction. We have had warm temperatures this weekend so I'm pleased the tyres performed as expected. We now move almost immediately to Barcelona which is a tougher track compared to here but have done some good tyre testing this year and are confident our tyres will be competitive again next weekend."

Bridgestone Team News

Ross Brawn, Technical Director Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"We're obviously very, very happy. It was a challenging race but we could see that with good pace and if we played the raced correctly we could win. There were some vital stages of the race when the team and the drivers did a perfect job. The Bridgestone tyres were excellent and very strong throughout the race."

"We have also found performance in the car: in the aerodynamics, in the chassis, in the engine. When all those elements come together it enables us to get the performance we had today. It will be a big challenge for the rest of the year but this is a great way to start."

Sam Michael, Technical Director WilliamsF1:

"It was good for Nico to get a couple of points by finishing seventh after starting 22nd due to the engine penalties. He drove solidly all day, putting in the lap times when it mattered and might have done even better if he hadn't encountered traffic. On Mark's car, we had a loss of hydraulic fluid although the exact cause is unknown at this time. Up until then, he'd done a fantastic job as well, with a really good first lap. As he was on the same pit stop strategy as Nico, there is no doubt he would have finished in the top four or five."

-bridgestone-

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