12/07/2009
NEWS STORY
Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber scored his first ever F1 race win after he used a two stop, super soft - medium - medium tyre strategy to win a fast-paced German Grand Prix in difficult conditions at Nurburgring.
Despite being given a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable collision at the start, Webber finished 9.2 seconds ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel with Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Felipe Massa taking third. Vettel used a super soft - medium - super soft strategy and Massa used a super soft - super soft - medium strategy for his first podium finish of the season.
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "Congratulations to Mark Webber for taking his first ever Grand Prix win at the 130th attempt. This illustrates the Japanese proverb 'continuing is the force' and we are very happy that this win occurred using Bridgestone tyres. From a tyre analysis perspective this was a thrilling race. The conditions, such as temperature and track condition, meant that for most of the race it was very difficult to determine which was the better race tyre. This meant that drivers and strategists had to use a lot of brain power today and we saw a good variety of strategies through the field, even from drivers in the same team.
"The track conditions started very green and this caused some competitors who started on the super soft tyre problems with graining and degradation. Some competitors used the medium compound very well, and Fernando Alonso was notable with his fastest lap on this tyre, however others struggled for grip and temperature with this tyre. This all added to the interest."