Spanish GP: Bridgestone race notes

Bridgestone looks to Monaco for change in fortune

After a promising start to the Spanish Grand Prix, round five of the FIA Formula One World Championship, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's Rubens Barrichello was the highest placed finisher of the Bridgestone runners this afternoon, crossing the line in ninth place.

Unfortunately for his teammate Michael Schumacher, the loss of air in first his left rear tyre and then his left front tyre, forced a premature end to the reigning world champion's race.

It was a disappointing end for the driver who had steadily climbed from his eighth place starting grid position to a certain podium place. The Scuderia now lies fifth in the Constructors' Championship with 18 points while Michael Schumacher and Barrichello have ten and eight points respectively.

Encouragingly for Jordan, both their drivers, Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan finished the 66-lap race but it was a disappointing day for Minardi's Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher, neither of whom finished the race. All of Bridgestone's runners will now be looking ahead to the next round in Monaco, the only street circuit on the F1 calendar.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager Bridgestone Motorsport:

"Today's result was certainly disappointing. Neither Minardi nor Jordan experienced tyre problems this weekend and we were hopeful that both Ferrari drivers could finish well today. Unfortunately Michael Schumacher suffered a loss of balance and then a loss of air in his left rear tyre in the latter stages of the race and after pitting to change the tyre, he then had a loss of air in his front left tyre."

"Safety is of course our first priority and we have already started a thorough investigation into the cause of this loss of air. What we can say, however, is that the wear on Michael's rear tyres was within acceptable boundaries."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"A disappointing end to the weekend as Michael was in a strong position and was starting to put pressure on Alonso. The race was coming together and certainly a podium was within reach. Unfortunately he then lost air in two tyres, both on the left side of the car."

"Obviously we shall now investigate fully what caused these problems. It's possible that Fisichella's earlier pitstop was caused by similar problems. Rubens on the other hand did well, given where he started on the grid. We shall now regroup and hope to go forward."

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