Bridgestone will bring the hard and soft compound Potenza tyres for Formula One’s return to the superb motor sport facility of Suzuka after two years’ absence for the Japanese Grand Prix on October 2-4.

The past two Japanese Grands Prix were held at Mount Fuji so this will be the first time that all of the current teams will race at this track exclusively on Bridgestone Potenza tyres.

The allocation of hard and soft was previously used in Sepang, Barcelona and Silverstone and it is a
return to the concept of leaving a stiffness gap between allocated tyres.

Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, said:
“Bridgestone is a Japanese company so our home Grand Prix has special importance for us. It is also ood to return to Suzuka as this venue has been the scene of so many great battles over the years. We will have many special guests and staff from our company attending this event so we are hopeful of an
exciting race.”

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, said:

What are the challenges of Suzuka?
“We last visited Suzuka in 2006 and a lot has changed in Formula One since then, so teams will have to work hard to understand the circuit with the latest specification cars and tyres. For the younger drivers this will be the first time they visit this circuit so they are set for a delight. The configuration is unique as it is a figure of eight and there are several high speed corners as well as a hairpin, so there is a lot to consider for car set-up and in the race.”

What are the primary tyre performance considerations?
“Interestingly, around half of the track has been resurfaced. The new surface on the east side is very smooth and gives good grip. The older surface on the west side gives less grip than the newer surface on the east side. We will not know exactly how this will affect performance until the cars are running, but it certainly will be a consideration. The circuit layout tests all four corners of the car so a good all-round set-up will need to be found. The best set-up will be the one which allows the best traction, grip and enable quick change of direction from the tyres.”

Stats & Facts
Number & Spec of tyres brought to Suzuka: 1800 (Hard & soft dry. Intermediate/wets)
Pole position time 2006: 1min 29.599secs (Massa)
Fastest race lap 2006: 1min 32.676secs (Alonso)
Top three 2006: Alonso, Massa, Fisichella

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) used a soft – soft – super soft Bridgestone tyre strategy to slingshot away from his rivals in a scintillating and gruelling Singapore Grand Prix. Hamilton won Formula One’s only night race from pole by just under ten seconds from Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Timo Glock with Renault F1 Team driver Fernando Alonso finishing third. Most drivers used the same tyre strategy as Hamilton.

Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says
“What a fantastic Grand Prix! We appreciate the great organisation required to put on such a race in this wonderful venue. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for their second win of the season. Timo Glock will be very pleased with his second place, equalling Toyota’s best-ever result, and it is good to see strong performance from them heading to the Japanese Grand Prix. Renault and Fernando Alonso have also done very well to achieve a podium finish in such difficult circumstances.”

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says
“This was a long and gruelling race, only four minutes short of two hours duration. Over this time the circuit became cleaner and cleaner and more rubber was laid meaning a better track surface. This meant that degradation was better than seen earlier in the week. Indeed, brake degradation was a bigger concern for some competitors. Most drivers used the same tyre strategy; however with the information we have after the race, two stints using the super soft was a realistic option. Driver style and car set-up and characteristics defined the tyre performance on this difficult track. Nico Rosberg completed nearly half race distance on the super soft showing that it had solid durability today.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

Bridgestone’s super soft tyre carried Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton to his third pole position of the season in the only night-time qualifying session of the year.

Hamilton set a time of 1min 47.891secs in a session which was red flagged after championship contender Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP Formula 1 Team) hit the wall late in the session. Hamilton had earlier used the super soft tyre to go fastest in the Saturday practice session with a 1min 47.632secs lap. The day’s fastest lap, a 1min 46.197secs, was set by AT&T Williams driver Nico Rosberg in Q2 using the super soft.

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

What was significant about today’s running?
“We have to investigate the data in depth however it seems like circuit conditions might have continued to change quite quickly today. This means that some teams could have struggled to adjust their cars for the increased grip from the improved track surface. This means that car balance could alter, so it has been a difficult day once more here in Singapore due to the good challenge of this circuit.”

What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow’s race?
“It is still very difficult to say exactly, and we did see a lot of track improvement through the race last year here. We continue to see more degradation from the super soft tyre, in particular at the rear, although the degradation does not initially look to be as much as yesterday. However, there are no easy answers here. I suspect that the teams will be working very hard analysing their data and deciding their strategies for tomorrow.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

Bridgestone’s super soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber for the first running at night of the 2009 Formula One season as Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) topped the timesheets at the Marina Bay street course in Singapore.

Vettel set a 1min 48.650secs late in the second 90 minute session, as lap times dropped rapidly with the track surface improvement during the course of the hot and humid evening.

Bridgestone’s soft tyre was the fastest in the first practice session where drivers tackled the slippery and dusty street course. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP Formula 1 Team) was quickest with a 1min 50.179secs.

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

What was significant about today’s running?
“Just like last year we saw the track start very slippery. This was due a dusty surface and no rubber laid down. We saw a few drivers get caught out by these conditions; however the surface improved a lot during the evening. The lap times today were around three seconds slower than last year, and I think the reason for this is mainly due to the circuit revisions which have re-profiled turn 1 and turn 10, making them tighter and slower.”

How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
“Lap times decreased considerably during the evening and we think that this will continue tomorrow. The constantly evolving surface makes it difficult for teams to find the perfect set-up which is a good challenge for them and could provide some interesting results tomorrow. The super soft is quicker than the soft however we do not have sufficient data yet to know the exact difference. Both compounds showed good appearance and we didn’t see any big issues with graining. We could see rear degradation on both, but this is likely to be due to the slippery conditions and this will improve as the track evolves.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

Bridgestone’s soft tyre carried Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) to his second pole position of the season for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Hamilton set a time of 1min 24.066secs in the last moments of a very close qualifying session. Force India F1 Team driver Adrian Sutil was second fastest and also earlier set the fastest time in the morning practice session, using the soft Bridgestone Potenza.

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

What was significant about today’s running?
“Today we had an interesting result in qualifying and I think that the difference in lap times in Q3 means that there will be different fuel strategies for tomorrow’s race. The times through the day, apart from in Q3, were very close so competitors are using our tyres well here in Monza. Congratulations to Lewis for his second pole of the year, to Adrian for getting on the front row, and also to Vitantonio Liuzzi for qualifying in the top ten on his return to Formula One.”

What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow’s race?
“Both the soft and medium Potenza have worked well here at Monza so far this weekend and we have no reason to expect any issues in the race. We have not seen graining and there has not been blistering either. This means that strategy options are very open. A one stop strategy is possible with our tyres so it will be interesting to see if this is used.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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

Bridgestone will bring the medium and soft tyres to the Italian Grand Prix on September 11-13 which takes place at the high-speed circuit of Monza, located just north of Milan.

This will be the second time this season that this tyre allocation has been used after its debut at the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August.

Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, said:
“Italy is a fabulous country with a rich motor racing heritage. It is a country where Bridgestone has a strong involvement too, as we have a large factory, a sales office, a technical centre and a proving ground located near Rome. We also produce our GP2 Series tyres in Italy. Our proving ground is a state of the art facility and this is where we test our passenger vehicle tyres to the same exacting standards as we test our Formula One tyres. In fact, we even have a former F1 driver working for us as a test driver developing and giving vital feedback to help us make better products.”

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

What are the challenges of Monza?
“Monza has very high speed straights so there will be a lot of forces through the tyres as they rotate at up to 50 times per second. This means the tyre rubber can get very hot, even with the cooling effect of the wind on the long straights. At the end of the pit straight there is a heavy braking zone, so drivers have to be careful not to lock their brakes here. Low downforce car set-ups are used at Monza, so proportionally more reliance is made on mechanical grip.”

What are the primary tyre performance considerations?
“As we saw in Spa the allocation of the medium and the soft compound tyres has the potential to provide interesting results. The medium compound is the softest of our higher temperature working range tyres and the soft is the hardest of our lower temperature working range tyres. This means that their overall performance can be very similar, however their characteristics are different. In Spa we saw that different tyres suited different car characteristics, set-ups and driver preference, so maybe it will be the same situation in Monza, however it is a more severe circuit so good tyre management is likely to be a bigger factor. ”

Stats & Facts
Number & Spec of tyres brought to Monza 1800 (Medium & soft dry. Intermediate/wets)
Pole position time 2008: 1min 37.555secs (Vettel)
Fastest race lap 2008: 1min 28.047secs (Raikkonen)
Top three 2008: Vettel, Kovalainen, Kubica

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation