San Marino GP: Bridgestone Saturday qualifying notes

Front row start for Bridgestone & Ferrari Reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher continued his run of form this afternoon at San Marino, putting his Bridgestone Potenza-shod Ferrari on the front row of the grid for tomorrow's first ...

Front row start for Bridgestone & Ferrari

Reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher continued his run of form this afternoon at San Marino, putting his Bridgestone Potenza-shod Ferrari on the front row of the grid for tomorrow's first European race of the season. Watched by Bridgestone Corporation President and C.E.O Mr Shigeo Watanabe, who is making his first visit to a grand prix this year, the current championship points leader was unlucky not to snatch his fourth pole of the season after running wide in the final sector.

Nevertheless, the Scuderia driver will line up in second place. Teammate Rubens Barrichello will start the race from fourth whilst fellow Bridgestone runner, Sauber Petronas' Giancarlo Fisichella was unfortunate in not starting his final qualifying session having shown a good turn of speed in the first qualifying session.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport:

"A shame not to continue our run of poles but a front row start for Michael [Schumacher] is important. Analysis of our practice results show that we have the competitiveness and will be strong in the race tomorrow. We do think we have the better and more consistent race tyre here this weekend. Rubens [Barrichello] starts from the second row and he will be able to use this to maximum effect."

"The other Bridgestone runners will also benefit from having a strong race tyre from Bridgestone, especially Giancarlo [Fisichella] who will have some overtaking to do tomorrow. He had a good first qualifying but unfortunately, due to a mechanical problem, didn't get a chance to start second qualifying. All in all, an exciting start to the European season!"

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"A little frustrated not to be on pole. Michael's last sector didn't quite come together but I think we're in line for a very exciting race tomorrow. We're happy with our race set-up and we've got the right Bridgestone tyres. It should be an entertaining race."