Michael Schumacher drove a strong race on Sunday afternoon to take a well earned third place podium at the French Grand Prix. It was a tough race for the World Champion but solid team work at his three pitstops and determination to push right to the last lap produced six valuable points. The Ferrari team has consequently maintained its lead in the Constructors’ Championship whilst Schumacher has, in fact, stretched his lead in the drivers’ standings by one point to put him eight points ahead of nearest rival Kimi Raikkonen.

Scuderia teammate Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, crossed the finish line in seventh place, having had to fight his way up the field from last after spinning in the opening laps. B.A.R Honda’s Jacques Villeneuve joined Barrichello in the top ten for Bridgestone after a consistent drive from the Canadian saw him finish in ninth place overall.

Hisao Suganuma – Technical Manager – Bridgestone Motorsport commented, “Whilst valuable points were gained today for Ferrari, this afternoon’s race was very important and we will learn from it. I am sure the loss of this race will serve only to inspire us to produce better and faster tyres. We have an important few days of testing next week at Barcelona and Mugello/Fiorano, working hard with four of our teams and we will be testing a number of development specifications. We will strike back, there’s no doubt about it.”