Hisao
Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport recently was
given an interview about the season so far and whats left of it.
Twelve
wins from thirteen races – you must be delighted with the
results so far?
Very much so. During winter testing some people thought
that our rival would be stronger than us this year so we made a
big effort to improve our tyre performance. Right up to the first
round in Melbourne people had doubts but this just served as a spring
board for further inspiration and since then, we have really been
able to demonstrate our improved tyre performance. All the Bridgestone
teams have benefited from our strengths this year. So far, I think
our efforts have paid off and twelve wins from thirteen races is
an amazing achievement. We did lose Monaco which was disappointing
but that just means we will try even harder in 2005!
The
race at Hockenheim marked the 90th win on Bridgestone tyres since
1997. You must
be extremely proud of Bridgestone’s achievements in such a
short period of time.
Yes, to have reached 90 wins in our eighth season since
entering Formula One in 1997 is a fantastic achievement. However,
it is not the numbers that impress me but the race by race achievement
when taken from a tyre development point of view: to know that a
Bridgestone driver has taken victory on 90 occasions is very satisfying.
We have already started to build on this with Michael’s victory
in Hungary last weekend.
One
of the major challenges this year has been to produce competitive
and durable tyres
for hot temperatures. Do you think Bridgestone has achieved that?
Last year, one of our weak points was tyre consistency
and performance in hot weather
conditions. We therefore put in a concerted effort to improve in
that area and as a result, our tyres have performed well in hot
conditions. We have made quite a lot of progress – as we saw
in Magny-Cours and Hockenheim.
This
year the Bridgestone tyres have been renowned for their excellent
consistency in
performance, enabling the Bridgestone teams to run a wide variety
of strategies. Why did you choose this characteristic?
What is important in the race is to finish either first
or as high up as possible to claim points. Bridgestone’s philosophy
is that race performance is most important. A race tyre, in our
opinion, should have consistent performance over a race stint. When
developing tyres, we always check for consistency and if a new specification
is more consistent than the control/current tyre then it will be
available for further testing or even at the next race.
Is
the need for initial first-lap performance overrated?
No, one-lap performance is important but if you have good
one-lap performance without
good race consistency you can end up with a worse race result. For
ultimate tyre performance we want both characteristics which is
why we are trying to improve our first lap performance. However,
Michael Schumacher has claimed seven of the thirteen available pole
positions so we can’t be too far off.
Which
other areas has Bridgestone worked to improve on in 2004?
Working on tyres for hot conditions has been particularly
important, especially for races such as Hockenheim and Hungary.
We did not experience temperatures as high as normal in Hungary,
but our assessment of the tyres over the weekend showed that we
would have been competitive even if temperatures had been normal.
The Ferrari cars in particular were in very good shape compared
to their rivals, with no blisters on their tyres after the race.
First-lap performance has also been an important area for further
improvement and again, the Hungarian Grand Prix showed we are on
the right track. We now move on to the Belgian and Italian GPs,
both of which have high speed natures. The first visit to the Shanghai
circuit is obviously a new challenge for us and Suzuka in Japan
is always tough on tyres because of its abrasive surface and high
speed nature. And finally, we will return to Brazil where we have
to consider the changeable weather conditions and grip levels, particularly
on the rear tyres. So there are many challenges ahead.
How
has development progressed on Bridgestone’s rain tyres?
Bridgestone’s wet tyre performance is renowned for
being very strong. Naturally we expect our rival to try to come
up with an improved wet tyre so we in turn always keep pushing our
development programme. Even if we have had no wet races yet this
year it is important that we do not stand still. We have already
made improvements to our wet tyres for this season which we believe
will give the Bridgestone teams a competitive edge.
We
are now in the test ban period and will not test until Monza in
September. How does
this affect Bridgestone’s tyre development programme?
The
test ban means that we are unable to do any trackside testing but
that does not mean we can’t do laboratory test work and computer
simulations. There is actually a positive side to a test ban as
it enables us to use the time wisely for a thorough review of our
tyre performances so far. This analysis is then used for the specifications
being produced for the remainder of the season. The ban also allows
our personnel to recharge their batteries and prepare themselves
mentally and physically for the remainder of the season.
Last
year Bridgestone had tough races in Magny-Cours, Hockenheim and
Hungary and
has worked hard to regain not only wins on these circuits but also
to give all its teams a
competitive chance of gaining points. Ferrari and Michael Schumacher
have now achieved
victories in France, Germany and Hungary. Just how big a challenge
was Hungary?
The Hungarian Grand Prix was a big challenge. I still remember
Michael being lapped there last year so we very much wanted to win
there this year. We worked extremely hard to ensure that our tyres
for Hungary gave our teams a competitive chance and our efforts
paid off. All the information gathered from the previous rounds,
as well as some additional developments went towards producing the
tyres for Hungary and the new specification worked particularly
well. Not only was the tyre giving quick first lap performance but
if you analyse the race lap times and list the laps in order of
fastest to slowest, you will see that the Ferrari drivers set the
top 31 fastest laps between them. Speed and consistency: a great
combination for racing tyres.
What
is your target for the remainder of the year?
To win the remainder of the races and to keep strengthening
the relationships between
Bridgestone and its teams so we can develop a greater understanding
of their needs. Ferrari has just won the Constructors’ Championship
and we are now working towards the Drivers’ Championship.
The end of the season is also very important for Sauber, Jordan
and Minardi as they strive to win as many points as possible and
we need to support them in this goal. In addition to the immediate
future, we also need to start thinking about next year and the implications
of changing the regulations. While they have not actually been finalised
yet, it is likely that the regulations will mean that we need to
prepare and test tyres with more durable characteristics. It will
be an exciting challenge for us. |
