Italian GP: Bridgestone race notes

Tifosi celebrate as Ferrari does the double

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro took its 7th one-two this season with a perfect performance in front of its ecstatic home fans. Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher were so far ahead of the rest of the field that they were able to cruise the last lap in convoy before the delighted tifosi. Driving on a brand new Bridgestone tyre, the Ferrari duo moved into the top two positions early in the race - on a two-stop strategy, Rubens went ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya at the start of lap five; a lap later Michael, who stopped just once, pulled the same manoeuvre going into the first corner. Rubens, who set a new lap record and finished 52 seconds ahead of 3rd place driver Eddie Irvine, now has a 17-point advantage for second place in the championship with just two races to go.

Other cars on Bridgestone survived well what became a race of attrition. Olivier Panis scored his first point for Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda since the British Grand Prix two months ago, in 6th place, and Giancarlo Fisichella was 8th for DHL Jordan Honda. In total, Bridgestone had six cars in the top ten.

Ross Brawn - Technical Director - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

"We chose the strategy because we were not sure what Williams would do and wanted to cover both options but in fact both strategies were equal in terms of time. Even when we started to build a gap we did not know what Montoya's was going to do. As usual, Bridgestone did a super job with the tyres. Towards the end we asked both drivers to look after the cars because this is a hard track on engines. We really did not know what to expect today, so the result is fantastic."

Hisao Suganuma - Technical Manager - Bridgestone Motorsport

"Every win is special but to help Ferrari to such a magnificent victory at home is an emotional occasion for us all. We knew from last week's test at Monza that we were not quite there with the tyres so we decided to bring a new specification that had to made in Japan last weekend and had not been track tested before. In spite of that, I was confident that it was the right decision based on what we knew about the tyre from the results of similar specifications. In fact, I would like to dedicate this win to everyone at our factory who gave up their weekend to come into work so that we could join in the celebrations today. I am also delighted for Olivier Panis who scored a point."

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