25/10/2008
NEWS STORY
Bridgestone heads to Brazil for the thrilling conclusion to the 2008 FIA Formula One Championship, where Bridgestone's medium and soft compound Potenza tyres will be put through their paces on the undulating 4.309km Autódromo José Carlos Pace for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
After the more recently designed or redesigned facilities of the last few races, the track in Brazil, which is also known as Interlagos, is somewhat more longstanding as it was last redesigned for the 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix. The circuit is well known for its bumps, although resurfacing over the years has diminished the impact of these. Significantly, the track was resurfaced in its entirety in 2007, prior to last year's race.
Cars will run in an anti-clockwise direction and face significant gradient change over a lap. This is a circuit where drivers do not have much time to relax, and its twisty infield section makes graining something which will be on teams' minds. The circuit surface often starts the race meeting very dirty, and improvements in lap times, as well as fewer mentions of graining, should be seen over the weekend as the surface improves.
What challenges does Interlagos present?
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "We expect a lot of graining, especially at the beginning of the weekend. There are two reasons for this; Interlagos often has a very dirty track surface and the twisty infield layout makes graining likely, regardless of the track surface conditions. Interlagos is a track which is deceptive as it is not as harsh on tyres as you would think, although the weather conditions can play a big part, especially if it is hot like it was last season."
Why has the tyre allocation changed from 2007?
HH: "Last year we were too soft in our allocation and we saw blistering on many tyres, even those used by competitors who we would expect to be quite gentle on our tyres. We expect the medium and soft compounds be a good choice, plus the change will provide teams with a challenge, especially as the track surface will have evolved from last year when it was brand new."