29/05/2005
NEWS STORY
Bridgestone equipped Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Rubens Barrichello took a well earned third place podium position this afternoon in the European Grand Prix ahead of his teammate Michael Schumacher who finished the 59-lap race in fifth place. The pair started from seventh and tenth places on the grid but both got caught up in the first corner confusion and found themselves having to fight their way up through the field again from ninth and fourteenth places. Using their respective fuel strategies to their advantage, they will be pleased to have come away with six and four points. The Scuderia continues to lie in fifth place in the Constructors' championship with a total of 31 points. Both drivers from the Jordan Grand Prix and Minardi F1 teams finished today's race at the Nurburgring and Tiago Monteiro in particular will be pleased to have completed every round so far this season. The event also marked the first time the Minardi team has got both cars home following the introduction of the new PS05 and will now be looking to build on that as the Formula One paddock heads across the Atlantic for the next rounds in Canada and the United States.
Hisao Suganuma – Technical Manager – Bridgestone Motorsport: I'm very pleased to see the return of a Ferrari to the podium again. Rubens drove a good race and deserved the reward. He also set the third quickest lap in the race this afternoon and I think overall, today's result was a reflection of our good tyre performance in race trim. We had no tyre issues such as high wear or blisters and I am only sorry that the Ferrari drivers got caught up in the first corner incident. Had they not been held up and had a clear run I think they could have capitalised even more. The Jordan and Minardi drivers all finished the race too which I am pleased to see and we now look forward to the two flyaway races in Montreal and Indianapolis.
Ross Brawn – Technical Director – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: We have been left wondering what might have been again, which is very frustrating. We know we have difficulties in qualifying and this was made worse by what happened on the first lap. Considering that by the end of that lap we were last and close to last, I think we had a fantastic race. The car was very good in the race. Michael had a two stop strategy with the heavier fuel load and towards the end of the race the tyres were getting a little bit difficult as a result. Rubens was on a three stop, lighter fuel load (strategy) which put less stress on the tyres. The tyres were very good and he had a great race. Rubens had race winning pace today but unfortunately couldn't use it. Both drivers were on the same specification of tyre but Michael probably didn't have quite as good balance in the race with the extra fuel and this took the tyre over the edge whereas Rubens was in much better shape.