Japanese GP: Bridgestone Friday practice notes

Bridgestone set for home Grand Prix

Bridgestone's home race weekend got off to a dull and later wet start with its three teams getting down to work early in today's two practice sessions. Most teams seemed to anticipate rain in the second session, resulting in more activity than usual in the first timed session.

Ferrari, however, chose not to run their second specification of Bridgestone tyre until the afternoon, leaving them in 16th and 18th places by the end of the first session.

However, second and fourth fastest in the second session was a more accurate reflection of their potential for this weekend and they managed to complete enough dry laps before the rain arrived for the last 15 minutes of the second session to give Bridgestone and Ferrari's engineers an indication of where they stand.

Nevertheless, further rain is anticipated this weekend meaning Bridgestone's wet weather tyres could well be called upon instead. Meanwhile, aspiring local driver Sakon Yamamoto had his F1 debut with the Jordan Grand Prix team. The young Japanese driver equipped himself well, setting times ahead of his fellow Jordan colleagues and both Minardi drivers.

Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager:

"This morning's conditions were not too bad considering that the track was a little green and provided little grip. The weather does seem unstable. Ferrari didn't try their second specification in the morning but fortunately the weather stayed dry until after they had tried it in the second session and consequently Michael [Schumacher] and Rubens [Barrichello] were able to set the second and fourth fastest times."

"They are looking quite competitive. The Bridgestone teams used the time available in an efficient way and as a result we were able to get some useful data about our Suzuka specifications ahead of this evening's analysis. It was also nice to see a young Japanese driver doing well. He did a super job for Jordan today and I hope he benefits from it."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"I think the times reflect the fact that we used our new tyres in the second session. A lot of teams used theirs in the first session, perhaps expecting the rain to come earlier. All teams seemed to have some degradation. However, I think we are in reasonable shape and the cars are well balanced."

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