Saturday Bridgestone press release - 7th May 15:55pm GMT

Bridgestone’s teams had another busy day today at the Circuit de Catalunya in front of thousands of enthusiastic Spanish fans. Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi used the two morning practice sessions to find their set-ups for the weekend with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello running strongly in the first session in particular. The Circuit de Catalunya is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar and the Bridgestone drivers have therefore been working hard to make sure they have the best race set up for Sunday. Rubens Barrichello unfortunately had to change his engine prior to qualifying and although the Ferrari pair went on to set the seventh and ninth fastest times in the first qualifying session this afternoon, Barrichello will be penalized 10 places on the grid. Michael Schumacher, however, will be looking for a strong final qualifying position tomorrow morning as the team and Bridgestone expect him to be pushing hard in the race.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport:
“Ferrari didn’t quite get the balance they wanted today but I think they should be in good shape for the race. This is one of the toughest tracks on the F1 calendar and we shall be working with all our teams to help them get the most out of their tyres throughout the race. We knew qualifying on pole would be tough here but we don’t seem to have any wear problems so we are looking forward to the race tomorrow. Tomorrow’s final qualifying session will be interesting as it tends to be closely linked to race strategies. The circuit has one of the highest fuel effects. I would expect most teams to be on a two stop strategy.”

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:
“Neither car had great balance during qualifying because we think the conditions changed a bit from the earlier practice sessions. Michael had a very good first sector but then found he had too much understeer in the second half of the lap and Rubens found the same. So, a little disappointed but we’re not too far off and I think we have very good race pace. Certainly with Michael, if we hold or improve upon his position in tomorrow’s final qualifying, I think we could have a good race. Rubens unfortunately had an engine change after practice this morning so he’ll be starting from the back of the grid.”