Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP Formula 1 Team) used a medium - soft tyre strategy to score his second race win of the season after a thrilling and tactical high speed Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Barrichello finished over two seconds ahead of team-mate Jenson Button who used a soft - medium strategy. Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) finished third with a two stop strategy, soft – soft – medium.

Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says
“Congratulations to Rubens for his second win of the season and Brawn GP for their fourth 1-2 finish this year. We saw an exciting race today and it was interesting to see how the different strategies worked. It is also always good to see a Ferrari driver on the podium on a glorious day in Italy. For Bridgestone, we were pleased that our Chairman of the Board, CEO and President, Mr Arakawa, and our other important guests were here to enjoy this great display from Formula One.”

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says
“This was a thrilling race with a fantastic strategic battle. Even though it was a one stop strategy that won the race, it is difficult to say whether a one or a two stop was better. Both Bridgestone Potenza compounds gave very similar overall performance so there was a good variety of different strategy uses. For Brawn GP in their championship battle this was a good day. We must also mention the fighting spirit of reigning champion Lewis Hamilton who pushed very hard right to the final lap where he was unfortunate not to finish.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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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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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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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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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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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.”

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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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Rubens takes his first victory for 5 years as McLaren falter as Raikkonen shines with another podium position.

Report to follow…

Race Results
01 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:35:51.289
02 L. Hamilton McLaren + 2.358
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 15.994
04 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 20.032
05 N. Rosberg Williams + 20.870
06 F. Alonso Renault + 27.744
07 J. Button Brawn GP + 34.913
08 R. Kubica BMW + 36.667
09 M. Webber Red Bull + 44.910
10 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 47.935
11 N. Heidfeld BMW + 48.822
12 G. Fisichella Force India F1 + 1:03.614
13 J. Trulli Toyota + 1:04.527
14 T. Glock Toyota + 1:26.519
15 R. Grosjean Renault + 1:31.774
16 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 lap(s)
17 L. Badoer Ferrari + 1 lap(s)
Did not finish
18 K. Nakajima Williams + 3 lap(s)
19 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 16 lap(s)
20 S. Vettel Red Bull + 34 lap(s)

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