13/10/2009
NEWS STORY
Bridgestone heads to Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 16-18, where the medium and super soft compound Potenzas will be put to use around the undulating anti-clockwise Interlagos circuit.
This is the penultimate race of the season and the final time that this allocation will be seen. The combination of medium and super soft has been seen previously this year in Australia, China, Bahrain and Germany.
What are the challenges of Interlagos?
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "This is a very challenging and exciting circuit. The first corner comes at the end of a long straight, and it goes downhill, meaning that finding the correct braking point is difficult. We expect to see some overtaking and brake locking here, and this could damage the tyres. The circuit surface often starts very dirty and we see a lot of improvement over the weekend. As we saw last year, the weather can also be a very big challenge."
What are the primary tyre performance considerations?
HH: "Interlagos is a circuit where high grip is a priority. We have the stiffness gap in our allocation, so teams will have to work out the best set-ups for both tyres, and there should be many strategy considerations and possibilities. Traditionally we would see a lot of graining here, due to the initially dirty surface and the twisty infield section, however this will be less of a factor this season, due to slick tyres being more resistant to graining relative to the grooved tyres we used before."