Hungarian GP: Bridgestone Friday practice notes

Bridgestone gets back to business in Hungary

It was business as usual for the Bridgestone equipped teams today at the 4.381km Hungaroring circuit as Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Sauber Petronas, Jordan Ford and Minardi Cosworth set about the task of setting up their cars for the coming weekend. Once the initially dusty track had been swept clean by the early runners, the drivers soon started to run through their tyre tests.

Michael Schumacher was consistently quick throughout the day setting the fastest time in the morning with a 1m21.552s and the second fastest time of 1m21.009s in the afternoon's second session. Fellow Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello was also up with the pace despite not getting as many laps in as his teammate in the second session. Sauber Petronas and Jordan Ford also showed signs of promise for the coming weekend.

Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager:

"First day at the Hungaroring and the circuit as expected was very green. We saw some front tyre graining as a consequence of this, especially in first practice, but as the track improved over time, so too did the performance. We expect the track to keep improving over the weekend which will have a positive effect on the levels of grip."

"As is normal on a Friday, we shall gather together all the data from our teams and decide which of their specifications to recommend but at this stage all four of the Bridgestone specifications could be used it is really down to the car-tyre balance and individual preferences of the drivers. Overall though, I'm pleased with the first day's results."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"As always, the track changes here enormously over the weekend but the general picture suggests that we should be very competitive. We shall now assess all the data we have. Rubens flat spotted one set of his tyres so didn't get as much running this afternoon as we'd hoped but we should have enough information between the two cars to make a decision on which specification of Bridgestone tyre each of the drivers would like to use. Both drivers are reasonably happy with the car and we just need to see now how the track develops over the weekend."

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