12/06/2005
NEWS STORY
Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished a thrilling Canadian Grand Prix this afternoon in second and third places at the sweltering Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, giving them their first double podium finish of the season. Schumacher, who started from the front row, lost several places at the beginning of the race but used the consistency of his car and tyre package and the Safety Car period to his best advantage to climb back up to second. Barrichello, meanwhile, had to fight every inch of the way, having started from the pitlane after a gearbox problem ruined his qualifying run yesterday. Schumacher's second place finish has now boosted him to fifth place in the Drivers' Championship standings with 24 points, three points ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello who lies in seventh place. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro remains in fifth place in the Constructors' Championship but have significantly closed the gap to the front runners. Meanwhile, Jordan Grand Prix's Tiago Monteiro took the chequered flag in tenth place, continuing his run of eight finishes in as many races. Minardi's Christijan Albers also crossed the finishing line, in eleventh.
Hisao Suganuma – Technical Manager – Bridgestone Motorsport: It was great to see the two Ferrari drivers on the podium today as everyone has worked very hard for this result. We experienced very hot track temperatures today, which were quite tough on the tyres, so I was pleased to see them perform so well. After Michael qualified in second yesterday, our tyres then provided both him and Rubens with a consistency in performance that enabled them to achieve second and third places today. Considering Rubens started from the pitlane, a third place finish was excellent. I was also pleased to see that Ferrari didn't experience wear or blistering problems today while both Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro also crossed the finishing line. I must say thank you to our race and test teams because a result like this comes from a lot of hard work and cooperation. We have certainly made a good step forward with the new tyre specification which was brought here and once we have made the appropriate post race checks, hope to use it again in Indianapolis. However, while the results were an improvement on our earlier race performances, we always try to win so we will continue to push hard.
Ross Brawn – Technical Director – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: A very pleasing result today - particularly after the last few races. Having said that, the beginning of the race was a disaster with Rubens starting from the pitlane and Michael, who actually got a good start, but for some reason got stuck after that. We had a very aggressive strategy so running in sixth was a disaster. But we picked ourselves up and worked out what could be done and ran a pretty good race. The car was good and was balanced but not exceptional and we could see we were a little off the pace. So we made the best use of it, the strategy and the safety car and it all worked extremely well. The Bridgestone tyres were strong and were there until the end so no problems there. We've got things to look forward to with a new aero package in Magny-Cours, a new engine spec coming and developments on the tyres so I'd like to think we can fight from a position of strength in the next few races.