30/07/2006
NEWS STORY
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa secured another dominant 1-2 finish this afternoon at the 4.574km Hockenheim circuit, giving Bridgestone its 100th win from the 165 grands prix the company has participated in since entering Formula One as a tyre supplier in 1997. Michael Schumacher is personally responsible for 56 of those wins. However, today's results also means that the seven time world champion is now just 11 points behind title leader Fernando Alonso in the driver points standings while Ferrari lie just ten points adrift in the Constructors' championship. Panasonic Toyota Racing also took points today for Jarno Trulli's strong drive from 20th on the grid to seventh. However, it was a desperately unlucky day again for the WilliamsF1 team. Nico Rosberg crashed out early on while Mark Webber had been set for a top five finish before a car problem hit ten laps from the finish line. MF1 Racing's Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro both finished the race today but for Super Aguri F1, who debuted their new SA06, it was disappointing not to get either car over the finish line. The F1 paddock now heads straight for Budapest for next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: Congratulations to Michael (Schumacher) and Felipe (Massa) on another great 1-2 finish which has really put them in contention for the championship titles. Today's win was also special for us as it was the 100th win taken on Bridgestone tyres since we entered in 1997 – something we are very proud of! It is the result of a big team effort, from everyone trackside to all those personnel back in the UK and in our technical centre and factory in Japan. Thanks must also go, not only to those teams who have won on our tyres, but to all the Bridgestone teams who have raced with our tyres over the past ten years. However, as satisfying as statistics such as these may be, we have every intention of adding more victories to the tally and we remain focused on the remainder of the season. We saw some very quick and consistent performances this afternoon from the Bridgestone teams with five of the top six fastest laps being set by Bridgestone runners. Unfortunately Mark Webber had to retire with a car problem and we are desperately sorry for him. Jarno Trulli finished seventh which was very good considering his starting position! Nevertheless, it appears the Bridgestone tyres had the competitive edge this weekend which was good to see considering Hockenheim is tough on tyres and track temperatures rose to 45° Celsius. That is now three wins in a row for Ferrari and Bridgestone but there are still six races to go and championship titles and positions to fight for so we will remain vigilant and will keep looking for ways to give our teams the best tyres.
Ross Brawn, Technical Director – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: Well, it doesn't get much better than that! The cars were perfect and the Bridgestone tyres were perfect. Everything went very well. Obviously when we saw Kimi come in early for his first stop it confirmed our previous thoughts and it was then just a matter of looking after the cars.
Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis – Panasonic Toyota Racing: Our qualifying has unfortunately destroyed our weekend and hopes for good results. In the race we had a good enough pace to fight for podium and you could see this from Jarno being stuck behind the two Renaults. This weekend, we had tyres that were similar to those at Magny-Cours, which showed that they could be really competitive and help us meet our target of increased pace.
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