Michael Schumacher drove a faultless race this afternoon at the Canadian Grand Prix not only retaking the drivers’ championship lead but also putting his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team at the head of the constructors’ championship. The World Champion’s win, however, also marked the 75th win on Bridgestone tyres since the tyre manufacturer entered Formula One in 1997, just 108 races ago. Schumacher’s teammate Rubens Barrichello took his fair share of the points finishing fifth after a hard race.

After two days of miserable weather and heavy rainfall, the Formula One circus was back up to full speed in the warm, dry conditions, providing plenty of thrills for the enthusiastic Canadian crowd. And, although local hero Jacques Villeneuve endured yet another disappointing race, retiring after 14 laps, it was a positive day for Bridgestone showing that the tyre company can, and does, regularly win in both dry and wet conditions. And there was plenty of action on the tyre front this afternoon, with much of the focus on pitstops. It was Michael Schumacher’s first pitstop in fact which put him ahead of his younger brother Ralf, a decisive moment in the race.

Bridgestone Results
1st M Schumacher 1:31:13.591, 5th R Barrichello 1:32:17.852, 9th J Verstappen 1:31:54.700, DNF J Wilson (60 lps), DNF J Button (51 lps), DNF N Heidfeld (47 lps), DNF G Fisichella (20 lps), DNF R Firman (20 lps), DNF J Villeneuve (14 lps), DNF HH Frentzen (6 lps)

Hisao Suganuma – Technical Manager – Bridgestone Motorsport
“An excellent win today – the 75th in fact on Bridgestones. I’m very pleased with the way our tyres performed today and also with the quality of our product which, on a circuit like Montreal, is a good indicator of having done our homework. We will of course now be making a big effort to do our part in assisting Ferrari to try to pull away from their rivals in the championship. It was a shame several of our other runners dropped out of contention for a variety of non-tyre related issues but all in all, a fine end to the weekend and a positive boost for the whole Bridgestone team.”

Ross Brawn – Technical Director – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
“That was a very tough weekend where we could only push hard in certain parts of the race as we had a brake wear issue. With no dry running over the past two days we realised we were using the brakes more than expected so Michael had to drive a very controlled race. He drove fantastically – perhaps one of his best. I’m delighted for ourselves and for Bridgestone to have won today – a tough weekend.”

Source : Bridgestone

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