Saturday Bridgestone press release - 11th June 21:25pm GMT

Michael Schumacher will start tomorrow’s Canadian Grand Prix from the front row of the grid after qualifying in second place with a time of 1m15.475s. The reigning world champion had been running consistently in the earlier morning practice sessions, despite a problem in the second session, and will be looking to make the most of his front row start tomorrow. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Schumacher has won the Canadian GP for the last three consecutive years. His teammate Rubens Barrichello, however, was not so fortunate. A suspected gearbox problem resulted in him aborting his qualifying run this afternoon as temperatures rose into the high forties. Fellow Bridgestone runner, Minardi’s Christijan Albers also had a good run this afternoon out performing his main competitors Jordan Grand Prix, as well as Red Bull Racing’s Christian Klien.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport:
“The track has been evolving as the day has gone on, particularly the areas which were repaired overnight and we expect tomorrow to really see our tyre performance develop. It was nice to see Michael back on the front row of the
grid. As always, having better grip does give you a better chance of a good result. Today’s conditions have been quite hot with high track temperatures and it has been good to see that our tyres have the speed and consistency in these conditions. I am only sorry that Rubens had a problem which ruined his qualifying run. Christijan Albers, however, put in an impressive run. His hard work in the practice sessions in terms of car set up seems to be paying off.”

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:
“A little surprised really in terms of our overall performance. We were able to repeat the pace we showed this morning while our opposition seemed to suffer a bit. And Michael did not even get a clean qualifying lap. Considering where he is on the grid, he should be able to have a good race. What happened to Rubens was frustrating, because looking at other people’s performances this afternoon, he would also have been in a very strong position.”