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Italian GP 2009 - Bridgestone Friday Press Release

jemela — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:07:43 +0000

Bridgestone’s soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber at the high speed and historic motor sports destination of Monza for the first day of the Italian Grand Prix. Under glorious blue skies Force India driver Adrian Sutil set a 1min 23.924secs time in the afternoon practice session.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in the morning session, using the medium compound to set a time of 1min 23.936secs. In this session only Giancarlo Fisichella in his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro debut made use of the soft compound tyre, with all other competitors only using the medium compound.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about today’s running?
“Today was interesting as this was the first time that we have run in Monza this season. Historically, there would be a test here before the race weekend, so today was the first time that the teams have used their special low drag and lower downforce Monza configurations. Additionally, the revised kerbs have changed the nature of the lap, so this was another factor to consider today. Despite this, lap times were once more very close, with the top twelve cars this afternoon separated by a second.”

How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
“It is still too early for us to make strong predictions. The track is still improving and there were many different chassis set-ups and aerodynamic configurations used today which makes tyre comparison difficult. What we can say is that both compounds have worked well today. We haven’t seen any graining and there were no other particular tyre issues. As the times are so close the smallest mistake by a driver or in car set-up will make a big difference in qualifying tomorrow.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Kimi’s Official Column - Spa 2009 Review

jemela — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:52:15 +0000

Maranello, 1st September

I really like to win and I love the Spa circuit. It was great coming back to win here at this track. After such a difficult season my goal was to gain at least one success with this car and we did it. This is definitely the most beautiful moment of the year!

The F60 wasn’t easy to drive with an empty tank, so after Q1 I though it might be difficult to get into Q3. But in Q2 I managed to drive a good lap qualifying myself for the next round. I drove well in Q3, but as the cars were all pretty close I couldn’t do better than position six on the grid. Saturday afternoon I had a really good feeling: I knew that I could fight for the win. Naturally the KERS helped us a lot at the start and when the safety car came in. That doesn’t change the victory’s value, but we enjoyed the first success with this car using the KERS.

I knew that the start would be crucial. Barrichello had a very slow start, which didn’t help me, but I managed to come out of the Source in third position and I was right behind Kubica at the Eau Rouge. Then I overtook him, but I took the first right-hand corner after the main straight too wide, holding second position. Then the safety car helped us. At the restart we knew that it would be crucial to keep the tyres and the brakes at the right temperature to attack Fisichella while exploiting the KERS. There was a moment when we were really close to colliding during the overtaking manoeuvre, but I could hold my line on the track. Once I had passed him and I was in the lead I knew that the main part had been done. We had more or less the same fuel loads and although he was very fast there weren’t any possibilities for him to attack me. Maybe it would have been easier if we’d had different types of tyres, but we crossed the line first. It was great listening to the Finnish national anthem on the podium again! I came very close to a win many times last year, but for some reason or another I couldn’t make it.

I’ll give my best to gain as many points as possible in the remaining GPs. It won’t be easy, because the other teams will show up with further developments, while we “froze” the F60, concentrating on the project for 2010. We have to try to give our best with what we have, trying to fight for a place on the podium. We’re very happy for our fans, who finally had a reason to celebrate. There’s no better way to arrive in Monza. I know that I’m repeating myself, but I want to say it again: it won’t be easy, but we’ll give our best to be on the podium again.

Source - Kimi’s Official Website

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Kimi Is King Of Spa Again

jemela — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:40:46 +0000

Report to follow...

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium;
44 laps; 308.052km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  1h23:50.995
 2.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     0.939
 3.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     3.875
 4.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +     9.966
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    11.276
 6.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    32.763
 7.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    35.461
 8.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    36.208
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    36.959
10.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    41.490
11.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +    42.636
12.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    46.106
13.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    54.241
14.  Badoer        Ferrari               (B)  +  1:38.177

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:47.263

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Alonso        Renault               (B)    27
Trulli        Toyota                (B)    22
Button        Brawn-Mercedes        (B)    1
Grosjean      Renault               (B)    1
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)    1
Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    1

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Belgium GP 2009 - Bridgestone Race Day Press Release

jemela — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:26:29 +0000

Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) used a soft – medium - soft tyre strategy to score his first race win of the season after a thrilling and tactical Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps.

Raikkonen finished less than a second ahead of pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella who achieved Force India’s best ever result with second, using a soft-soft-medium tyre strategy. Sebastian Vettel used a medium-medium-soft tyre strategy to finish third.

Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says
“Congratulations to Kimi Raikkonen and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro for taking their first win of the year. Congratulations also to Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India for their fine second place. Today we saw a very exciting race, where Bridgestone’s tyres provided a vital ingredient. This is the home race for Bridgestone Europe, which is based in Brussels, so it is very good to have such a fine display from this wonderful sport for us here at the track, and for so many television viewers around the world.”

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says
“This has been a very interesting weekend from a tyre perspective, and this has provided a very exciting race. The medium and soft Bridgestone tyres were quite evenly matched for overall performance, and each podium finisher used a different strategy to achieve their result. Which tyre was best for which team depended on car characteristics, set-up and driver preference so we saw a good range of strategy choices. We did see some very small blisters today for the first time this season, so we can say that the tyres were worked hard at this track. We will use the same tyre allocation at Monza, so it will be interesting to see how the teams translate what they have learnt here to the next race.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Belgium GP 2009 - Ferrari Race Day Press Release

jemela — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:16:56 +0000

Kimi Raikkonen - 1st: “A great victory for me and the team. The champagne tastes the same wherever you are on the podium, but the feeling when you win is definitely different. This track has everything a driver could want and it’s a pleasure to drive here, however, there’s no particular secret to explain why I’ve won here four times. We wanted to win at least one race and we’ve done it. Our car was not the best in the pack, but we managed to put everything together and this result comes from all the work done with the team. I got away well, but Rubens was stuck in front of me and I had to avoid him. Then, at the first corner and at the end of the straight, I managed to move up to second. Behind the Safety Car, I thought mainly about keeping the tyres and brakes up to temperature to be able to attack Fisichella at the restart, and that’s how I managed to pass him quite easily. At the first pit stop, maybe it would have been better to stay with the softer tyre but that’s easy to say afterwards. In the final part, when it seemed I might not be able to fight off Giancarlo, I slightly changed the way I used the KERS so as to defend myself on the straight at Stavelot and so I managed to stay in front. Monza will be difficult, because our car is not particularly good over the kerbs, but we will try and do our best.”

Luca Badoer - 14th: “Today I did my best. Unfortunately, at the first corner after the start, I flat-spotted the front tyres and so I always had strong vibrations throughout the first stint. Once the tyres were changed, the situation improved, but the performance of the harder compound was not as good as the soft one. I have upped my performance level yet again and I really want to race at Monza, one of the tracks I know best, along with Fiorano and Mugello. I am very happy for Kimi and the team: this is a fantastic victory, which was just what we needed at this point in the season.”

Stefano Domenicali: “We are very happy with this win, which is a reward for all the hard work that the entire team has done during such a difficult and at the same time, dramatic season. I wish to dedicate it first and foremost to President Montezemolo, who celebrates his birthday tomorrow. I don’t think he could have asked for a better present. Thanks go to our partners, first and foremost Philip Morris and Shell, who have always stood shoulder to shoulder with us, as have our fans, with their unfailing support. A thought also goes to Felipe who kept in touch from Miami, where tomorrow he undergoes a medical check. Kimi drove an amazing race today: we knew the first lap would be decisive and so it proved. He drove impeccably all race long and the team was at its very best during the two pit stops. In the last four races, we have always got one driver onto the podium and we have picked up a fair haul of points at the highest level, even in unusual circumstances. Today, Luca did the best he could and this win also reflects his contribution within the team: now we will take a few days to evaluate his immediate future, also based on what Felipe’s recovery time might be. Now we look to Monza, our home race, where we will do all in our power to continue down this road, even if we know it will be very difficult.”

Chris Dyer: “A fantastic result for the team and for Kimi. After qualifying, we knew that we could have a good race if we got a good start. Kimi was fantastic, both on the first lap and then at the restart after the race was neutralised and he managed to take the lead. Fisichella was always right behind him and congratulations also to him for his performance. He and Kimi always pitted together and our guys managed on both occasions to send our driver out on track ahead of his closest rival. In the middle stint, we used the harder tyre but, with hindsight, we might have done better to pick the softer one: not only could we not open the gap over Giancarlo but we then had Vettel closing us down. Fortunately, at the second stop, the positions remained unchanged and Kimi did a good job of managing the situation in the closing laps. Today, the F60 was not the best car, but the team work and the talent of the driver produced the win and that’s what counts.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Belgium GP 2009 - Shock Pole For Fisi

jemela — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:24:37 +0000

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3

1. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:45.102 1:44.667 1:46.308

2. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:45.140 1:44.503 1:46.395

3. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:45.566 1:44.709 1:46.500

4. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:45.237 1:44.834 1:46.513

5. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:45.655 1:44.557 1:46.586

6. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:45.579 1:44.953 1:46.633

7. Glock Toyota (B) 1:45.450 1:44.877 1:46.677

8. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:45.372 1:44.592 1:46.761

9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:45.350 1:44.924 1:46.788

10. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:45.486 1:45.047 1:47.362

11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:45.486 1:45.119

12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.239 1:45.122

13. Alonso Renault (B) 1:45.767 1:45.136

14. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:45.707 1:45.251

15. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:45.761 1:45.259

16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:45.705

17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:45.951

18. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:46.032

19. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:46.307

20. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:46.359

All Timing Unofficial

Post Qualifying Car Weights

01 Giancarlo Fisichella: 648 kg
02 Jarno Trulli: 656.5 kg
03 Nick Heidfeld: 655 kg
04 Rubens Barrichello: 644.5 kg
05 Robert Kubica: 649 kg
06 Kimi Räikkönen: 655 kg
07 Timo Glock: 648.5 kg
08 Sebastian Vettel: 662.5 kg
09 Mark Webber: 658 kg
10 Nico Rosberg: 670 kg
11 Adrian Sutil: 678.5 kg
12 Lewis Hamilton: 693.5 kg
13 Fernando Alonso: 684.4 kg
14 Jenson Button: 694.2 kg
15 Heikki Kovalainen: 697 kg
16 Sébastien Buemi: 685 kg
17 Jaime Alguersuari: 704.5 kg
18 Kazuki Nakajima: 706.1 kg
19 Romain Grosjean: 704.7 kg
20 Luca Badoer: 691.5 kg

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Belgium GP 2009 - Ferrari Saturday Press Release

jemela — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:41:06 +0000

Luca Badoer - 20th: “I’m not happy, because this morning, at the end of free practice, I had hoped to make it through to Q2. Unfortunately, partly because of traffic and partly because of a few small problems, I didn’t manage to put together a perfect lap. I was counting on doing so on my final run, but there was the incident with Vettel which then led to me going off the track and that put an end to my qualifying. I have made another step forward in terms of performance, but it’s still not enough: for me the hardest thing is getting into a rhythm and finding the limits of the car. Unfortunately, there’s no opportunity to do the testing that would put that right. I am sure that tomorrow, I will perform better than I did in the Valencia race. I will try and do my best.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 6th: “Of course I would have preferred to have started from further up the grid, but I think we did our best today. We knew it would be hard to be at the front, but all the same, this is a good position, especially as the gaps between the front runners are pretty tight. With more fuel on board, the car handles better than on a light load and that was the case again in this qualifying session. Such an unusual grid makes it even harder to make any predictions for tomorrow and we will have to make the most of any opportunities that present themselves. The final outcome will depend a lot on the first two corners after the start. The fact the car handles differently at various sections of the track can be explained by the lack of aerodynamic downforce we have this season.”

Stefano Domenicali: “One could certainly say the starting grid order is unexpected. As we have already seen several times this season, the pecking order between the teams can change really suddenly from one race to the next. For our part, we would have liked to be a little bit higher up with Kimi, but all the same, we are in a position that will allow us to fight for a podium finish, especially when looking at the F60’s performance over a long run. As for Luca, once again we could see an improvement in his performance, but unfortunately, it was not enough to avoid him ending up last on the grid again.”

Chris Dyer: “We are a bit disappointed because, after yesterday’s showing, we expected a better result. Sixth place for Kimi must be assessed in the light of the different fuel loads of all the cars in the top ten. We believe we have come up with a good strategy and, given the car’s performance over a long run, we expect that,yet again, we can fight for a place on the podium. As for Luca, everyone can see that, day by day, his performance level is improving: unfortunately, it is not yet at a sufficient level to see him through at least to Q2.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Belgium GP 2009 - Bridgestone Qualifying Press Release

jemela — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:24:08 +0000

Bridgestone’s soft tyre carried Giancarlo Fisichella to Force India’s first ever pole position for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps.

Fisichella completed a 1min 46.308secs lap for his first pole since the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2006 and tomorrow will see an all Italian front row after Jarno Trulli (Panasonic Toyota Racing) qualified second.

BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Nick Heidfeld used Bridgestone’s medium tyre in the morning practice session to go fastest. Weather conditions were quite variable today and the performances of the Bridgestone medium and soft compounds were very close.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about today’s running?
“Today was fascinating from a tyre perspective and it was also a wonderful day for Force India and Giancarlo Fisichella for their pole position. Choosing between the two tyres here has been very temperature dependent, making it difficult for teams to decide which to use. This was particularly true in qualifying, as track temperature changed considerably. The soft compound worked very well with the lighter fuel loads of Q1 and Q2, however the heavier cars of Q3 tended towards the medium tyre.”

What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow’s race?
“The tyres are very close together on ultimate lap time, with the soft giving better grip, but the medium giving better stability. Just like Friday, we could not find any graining today and this means that both compounds are working well. Because of the close performance of the tyres we believe there will be a wide range of strategy possibilities for tomorrow’s race, and we will be interested to see what happens.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Belgium 2009 - Lewis Finishes Friday On Top

jemela — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:07:12 +0000

Session 1

Pos Driver Team Time Laps

1. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:49.675 13

2. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:50.283 + 0.608 18

3. Alonso Renault (B) 1:50.368 + 0.693 13

4. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:51.045 + 1.370 20

5. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:51.529 + 1.854 24

6. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:52.321 + 2.646 18

7. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:52.930 + 3.255 16

8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:53.383 + 3.708 11

9. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:53.650 + 3.975 12

10. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:55.068 + 5.393 20

11. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 2:03.972 + 14.297 11

12. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 2:04.505 + 14.830 13

13. Grosjean Renault (B) 2:05.513 + 15.838 13

14. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 2:05.614 + 15.939 14

15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 2:05.705 + 16.030 15

16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 2:05.839 + 16.164 10

17. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 2:06.181 + 16.506 6

18. Glock Toyota (B) 2:06.331 + 16.656 15

19. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1

20. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 4

Session 2

Pos Driver Team Time Laps

1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:47.201 29

2. Glock Toyota (B) 1:47.217 + 0.016 29

3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:47.285 + 0.084 26

4. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:47.329 + 0.128 31

5. Grosjean Renault (B) 1:47.333 + 0.132 34

6. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:47.506 + 0.305 27

7. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:47.559 + 0.358 33

8. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:47.578 + 0.377 33

9. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.579 + 0.378 36

10. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:47.602 + 0.401 25

11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:47.702 + 0.501 38

12. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:47.743 + 0.542 33

13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:47.790 + 0.589 29

14. Alonso Renault (B) 1:47.862 + 0.661 30

15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:47.961 + 0.760 32

16. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:48.017 + 0.816 30

17. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:48.125 + 0.924 34

18. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:48.130 + 0.929 37

19. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:48.360 + 1.159 29

20. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:49.211 + 2.010 30

All Timing Unofficial

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Belgium GP 2009 - Bridgestone Friday Press Release

jemela — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:58:10 +0000

Bridgestone’s soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber on the undulating Spa Francorchamps circuit for the first day of running for the Belgian Grand Prix. In a day of mixed weather conditions, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the day’s fastest time in the dry afternoon practice session.

This session illustrated the potential for a close race, with the top 18 cars separated by under a second. Jarno Trulli (Panasonic Toyota Racing) was the fastest driver in the morning practice session, setting a time of 1min 49.675secs on the medium compound tyre. Most of this morning session was run in wet conditions, meaning that Bridgestone’s intermediate and wet tyres were used. This was first time that the latest specification intermediate has seen extensive use.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about today’s running?
“Today illustrates what can happen in Spa with the weather. We all expected a dry day, yet this morning we saw a wet circuit. This was good for Bridgestone as we could evaluate the performance of our latest specification intermediate tyre relative to the wet tyre. We are pleased to say our initial performance feedback and data has been as anticipated. In the afternoon we had good running with the dry tyres.”

How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
“Spa is an interesting circuit and its characteristics mean that both tyres work well, even though they have different temperature working ranges. Because of this we saw that the medium and soft tyres delivered very close fastest lap times, and most of the field was very close together. We expect to see more tyre evaluation take place tomorrow. We did hear different driver comments relating to the feeling from the tyres, and this is a circuit where driver confidence is very important. We didn’t see graining on either compound so this highlights that both tyres could deliver strong performance if we have a dry race.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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