Brawn GP driver Jenson Button used a two stop, soft – soft – hard tyre strategy to win a highly tactical Spanish Grand Prix in hot and sunny conditions at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona.

Button finished thirteen seconds ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who used a three stop, soft – soft – soft – hard tyre strategy. The final podium position went to Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber who used the same strategy as Button for third.

Bridgestone’s soft tyre proved to be the superior race tyre here, giving a faster lap time than the hard, and giving good consistency too.

Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport
“Congratulations to Jenson Button for his win and Brawn GP for their 1-2. It is satisfying to see an independent team such as Brawn GP perform so well and it is good to watch Jenson showing his talents at the front of the field. Spain is a very important market for Bridgestone, so to start the European season with such a strong race was very rewarding for us. Lap times were very close and we saw good action on track.”

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
“Today was a very exciting race in terms of tyre strategy. It was clear all weekend that the soft tyre was a superior race tyre to the hard, so the strategy had to maximise time on the soft. We saw a variety of two and three stops take place so it was a race we had to watch closely to see who would win. Congratulations to Jenson, whose two stop strategy worked best to win the race and Rubens for a solid second place. Mark Webber also drove very well. Most drivers found the soft tyre to be very durable as well as quicker than the hard tyre. Some drivers experienced rear tyre degradation which is what we would expect with the current cars, but overall it was a strong tyre performance with no particular issues.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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One hundred and ten laps completed by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro over the two Friday free practice sessions for the Spanish Grand Prix: 60 for Kimi Raikkonen and 50 for Felipe Massa. “We had a very busy day: having so many new parts on the F60, the work sheet was full and we managed to complete it in its entirety,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “It was important to be able to work without major reliability problems on an aero package which is pretty much making its track debut today. We managed it and that’s definitely a positive thing when evaluating the day. As for performance, it is always difficult to draw conclusions. We have certainly made progress, but how much when compared to the competition we will only find out as the weekend continues.”

Kimi Raikkonen:
“We have definitely made a step forward in performance terms on the car: you can feel a greater level of aerodynamic downforce and that’s what we needed. Sure, it’s Friday and it’s always difficult to draw conclusions, but the feeling is that we have closed the gap to the top cars. Here, just as at the last race, the harder tyre is a bit difficult, while on the softer one, we’re reasonably good. Tomorrow morning, we’ll work on qualifying, given that today we concentrated on race preparation. All in all, I am happy with how things went today.”

Felipe Massa:
“We have done a good job over the past weeks and the car has improved, but of course, the others haven’t been standing around with their hands in their pockets. As from tomorrow, we will see if we have managed to move up the order, because today’s classification is difficult to interpret and I reckon it doesn’t represent the true pecking order. We worked towards Sunday’s race. On my final run I had traffic and that cost me a bit of time, but what matters is the performance tomorrow. I will do my best to get through to the final part of qualifying and then aim for a good grid position.”

Chris Dyer:
“We are reasonably pleased with how things went this Spanish Grand Prix Friday. The team, both back at home and at the track, has put in a big effort to bring this aero package to Barcelona and the fact we had no reliability problems is already a positive element. The track confirmed our first impressions, that the handling of the car has improved and, from what we can learn from an initial analysis of the situation, we are in better shape than at the previous races. Tomorrow, our aim is to get both cars into Q3 and then to have a good race on Sunday. The tyres are behaving as expected: on the harder ones, we are struggling to get good grip, while we are fine on the softer ones, both in terms of grip and consistency of their performance.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

Bridgestone opens the start to nine Formula One races in Europe with the hard and soft tyres at the Spanish Grand Prix, the Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica, at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, on May 8-10. 

The Spanish Grand Prix is the fifth round of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship and it takes place at a circuit that teams know very well because of the use of Barcelona as a test venue. The 4.66 km track layout features one long straight and a variety of different corners making set-up a compromise. 

The track is quite a harsh one for tyres which means the hard and soft compound allocation is used. Of particular note, the left front tyre is put under significant stress over a course of a lap. As with any circuit, the compromise between finding low drag for the straights and sufficient downforce for the corners is a challenge. Barcelona’s numerous bends make for a greater focus on the corners and the high speeds attained here make for significant energy forces on the tyres. 

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

What are the challenges of Barcelona? 

“Barcelona has a track surface that is the middle range in terms of abrasion and roughness but durability 

and driver requirements mean our harder allocation combination is used. The front left tyre has a lot of 

work to do at this circuit and equally, teams and drivers will have a big challenge trying to gain an 

advantage here as they know this track so well.” 

Many teams have tested their latest cars here in the pre-season, will this make a difference? 

“Of course, the experience of the teams at this track with their current cars will assist them with set-up. 

However, the ambient and track temperatures are likely to be warmer than testing so this will have an 

affect. Generally, we see quite close lap times here and close races too. The circuit layout is well 

balanced so it is a good indicator of overall car balance. A car that performs in Barcelona has the 

potential to perform well at many places.” 

Stats & Facts 

Number & Spec of tyres brought to Barcelona 1800 (Hard & soft dry. Intermediates/wets) 

Pole position time 2008: 1min 21.813secs (Raikkonen) 

Fastest race lap 2008:  1min 21.670secs (Raikkonen) 

Top three 2008: Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton

Images (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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