paul
Team Owner
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines02/0.../09/s10465.html
Formula One™ tyre suppliers Bridgestone and partner team Ferrari recorded their 50th consecutive podium result on Sunday when Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello came home one-two at Spa.
All of the top three places that Ferrari drivers have claimed since the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix have been on the Japanese company's tyres.
Schumacher's Belgian win also broke yet another F1™ record as it was his 10th race victory this year, beating his and Nigel Mansell's previous best tally of nine in a single season.
"Congratulations to Michael on his record 10th win and I am happy that Rubens was able to move closer to 2nd place in the championship," said Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport's Technical Manager. "Overall our performance today was good and we had no significant problems with either specification."
However, it proved to be a less successful day for Bridgestone's other teams. A sudden rush of retirements in the closing laps included three cars on Bridgestone tyres. BAR's Jacques Villeneuve continued his weekend run as the best Bridgestone driver after Schumacher and Barrichello by finishing in eighth place.
"Despite a number of retirements our surviving cars were still unable to collect points today so we will of course be investigating if we could have helped them further," added Suganuma.
Meanwhile, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn paid tribute to Bridgestone's success at Spa, saying: "I must admit I was astonished because genuinely I thought it would be a much harder race today.
"The immediate feeling was that other people were on a one-stop strategy so we had to keep the pace up. I kept telling Michael to slow down when the strategies became clearer but you can see how he responded!
"Michael's tyre choice suited the conditions well and the Bridgestones were fantastic today."
The Belgian Grand Prix marked Bridgestone's 12th win of the 2002 season.
Formula One™ tyre suppliers Bridgestone and partner team Ferrari recorded their 50th consecutive podium result on Sunday when Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello came home one-two at Spa.
All of the top three places that Ferrari drivers have claimed since the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix have been on the Japanese company's tyres.
Schumacher's Belgian win also broke yet another F1™ record as it was his 10th race victory this year, beating his and Nigel Mansell's previous best tally of nine in a single season.
"Congratulations to Michael on his record 10th win and I am happy that Rubens was able to move closer to 2nd place in the championship," said Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport's Technical Manager. "Overall our performance today was good and we had no significant problems with either specification."
However, it proved to be a less successful day for Bridgestone's other teams. A sudden rush of retirements in the closing laps included three cars on Bridgestone tyres. BAR's Jacques Villeneuve continued his weekend run as the best Bridgestone driver after Schumacher and Barrichello by finishing in eighth place.
"Despite a number of retirements our surviving cars were still unable to collect points today so we will of course be investigating if we could have helped them further," added Suganuma.
Meanwhile, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn paid tribute to Bridgestone's success at Spa, saying: "I must admit I was astonished because genuinely I thought it would be a much harder race today.
"The immediate feeling was that other people were on a one-stop strategy so we had to keep the pace up. I kept telling Michael to slow down when the strategies became clearer but you can see how he responded!
"Michael's tyre choice suited the conditions well and the Bridgestones were fantastic today."
The Belgian Grand Prix marked Bridgestone's 12th win of the 2002 season.