Michael, you are still looking for your first victory of the year. Will it be this weekend?
Michael Schumacher: If I listen to the support, we should do it, there shouldn’t be any question about that! But as you have seen lately we’re sort of struggling a little bit, and we haven’t been all the way competitive so far. But as usual we will try our best. Bridgestone is highly motivated, and ourselves, we’re pushing to get the car going, get the car back to the competitiveness we had in the past and last year in particular. The competition is tough. Those other guys, the other teams are doing a great job, and it’s difficult to beat them at the moment.
Of course the rules this year require that the engines last for two races and you use one set of Bridgestone tyres for the complete event. Has that changed the way you approach the race, have you changed your driving style to accommodate the new tyre rules this year?
MS: It has certainly changed big time. All winter long we had to no longer work for just a 20 lap stint, but we had to work for the whole 300kms race distance, and even more [because] we have to do qualifying. At the winter time there were two qualifying sessions, now there is only one. So there was quite a big demand for testing and development, because we didn’t really want to take away any performance, we wanted to keep the performance. And on the other side, keep the tyres as durable as they have to be. It was a pretty tough task. I think we’ve improved massively since the beginning of the season. It’s an area where Bridgestone is working very hard with a lot of progress every time, and there’s a lot to come.
Mr Yasukawa, with the new tyre regulation this year, how has that changed Bridgestone’s product, now they have to make it last all the way through qualifying and the race?
Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport: This new regulation has a very strong impact for us, because last year when you were watching the races you saw tyre changes – maybe once, or twice, or three times. But this year we cannot see tyre changes, which means that we have to produce, as Michael explained, around 380kms – or 250 miles. Then our technical people are concerned about safety, safety is very important. Of course we have concerns about speed, and new compounds, constructions, new shape, but our mission is safe tyres. But anyway, it’s a new challenge for us.
Michael, the five most recent of your World Championships have come on Bridgestone tyres. Right now you’re going through your longest winless drought since your early days in F1 with Benetton. How do you react to those challenges of getting Ferrari back on top? How are things different from when you were on top for all those years?
MS: Well, I mean it’s quite obvious what is the difference, we started most of the races quite a bit further back, except the Canadian GP, where we were on a different strategy than most other people. It’s just a different challenge. I have to say as long as we are as competitive as we are, and we have shown in several races like in Imola, like in Monte Carlo, where we did the fastest lap, we have the speed. We are there in terms of speed, we just don’t get it there all the time, and in particular in qualifying, because we struggle to get the car at the right spot of the grid and to then have a good race. Most of the time we have to compromise the race a little bit for that one lap issue in qualifying. Which then brings us into this circle which is difficult to get out of. Anyway, the most important thing is to know that it’s F1, it’s a very high level of competition, you have great drivers, you have great teams. Everybody has the same target, everybody wants to win. And we have been winning for the last five or six years, and at some stage you have to accept that maybe somebody else can do a better job. It’s our motivation and challenge to again show that we can come back. I’m so confident of that, I have no doubt about that. It just may take a little longer.
Mr Yasakawa, it’s been reported that Bridgestone would welcome some additional teams on its tyres in addition to Minardi, Jordan and Ferrari. Your thoughts on having more customer teams?
HY: Now we support three teams, but I’m very happy working with Ferrari, and Ferrari’s co-operation is huge, especially test wise and racing as well. And anyhow Michael helps us a lot and we have a very long relationship and we have very good communications. But if you look at F1, 10 teams are running and now we support just three. If we’re concerned about this imbalance, then maybe we can have one or two more teams, this is true.
Michael, you’ve won three of the five races held here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We have a new racing surface on the track this year. Bridgestone has a great record of success. What do you look forward to in the race, given all the variables at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
MS: There’s only one target for us, we definitely want to win, there’s no doubt about that. We have made again certain improvements to the car, to the tyres, and as you said there’s a new tarmac. We have to see how that sort of moves the situation, whether it’s going to bring the ball into our hand, or it gives it away a little bit further. It’s such a fine line, it can tip over one or the other way very easily.
Some people have complained that the season is too long. Ron Dennis has said that he wants to go back to 16 races. How do you feel about that, do you really think it’s too long? And would you like to race in Mexico, as they are building a new track in Cancun?
MS: If Ron doesn’t want to race 19 races, he is more than welcome not to! Honestly our season is anyway as long as it would be with 16 or 19 races, or 20 races. We start at the beginning of January, and it goes all the way until mid-December. So whether we do a lot of racing, or a lot of testing, what is easier to prefer? I prefer to race than to test, that is very clear. I have been in Mexico in the early nineties. I have been down there with sportscars and F1. And we had a great time there. The circuit was a big challenge, and I’m pretty sure we have a lot of support down in Mexico, as we always have. So I think we all would be quite happy to return.
