24/09/2010
NEWS STORY
Bridgestone's super soft tyre proved to be the fastest on track on the first day of Formula 1's only night race of the season against the wonderful backdrop of the Marina Bay area of Singapore.
Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel posted a lap time of 1m 46.660secs, mid-way through the second practice session of the evening. Today, all types of Bridgestone's allocated tyres for this event were used, with the wet, intermediate, medium and super soft all seeing track use. Mark Webber was the fastest in the first practice session, using the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza. Today also marked the milestone of the production of the final Bridgestone Formula 1 tyre in Tokyo.
What was significant about today's running?
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "We had the challenge of a wet track in Singapore for the first time and this provided an additional factor. We saw wet tyres being used by some for installation laps in the first practice, then use of the intermediate tyres for much of the session. Drivers who didn't have knowledge of this circuit conducted a lot of laps with the intermediates which gave us a lot of good data. The track was drier for the second session so we were able to see many laps completed on both dry compounds. Interestingly, the lap times were quicker than Friday here last year when the circuit was quite dusty. I think the smoother new surface helped with faster times too, although the new surface did take longer to dry than the older one. Today was also a significant day for our motorsport tyre factory in Japan as the very last Bridgestone Formula 1 tyres were produced. We would like to thank all the workers who have produced around 700,000 tyres for the world's best drivers over the past 14 years."
How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
HH: "This is a difficult question. Not only did we have a wet track today, but around 40% of the track has been resurfaced. As with any street course, we see a lot of track evolution over the duration of the weekend so we are unsure exactly how much grip the surface will provide. In addition, there could be further rain before tomorrow's sessions so the drivers and teams certainly have plenty of work in front of them."
To check out our Singapore practice gallery, click here