Japanese GP:Bridgestone race report Sunday

2009-10-04
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) used a hard - hard - soft tyre strategy to score his third race win of the season after a dominant performance in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Vettel finished over four seconds ahead of Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Jarno Trulli, who used the same tyre strategy, whilst Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton used soft - hard - soft to finish third.

Shoshi Arakawa - Bridgestone Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, says "Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel for his victory here at the Suzuka Circuit. The Japanese Grand Prix was held at Suzuka in beautiful weather today after a two year interval, and I believe the spectators thoroughly enjoyed the world's top class battles of Formula One. We are proud that our tyres have helped to provide an impressive and exciting race. Bridgestone, as the Official Tyre Supplier to the FIA Formula One World Championship, will continue to support all of the teams and drivers with our full efforts for the season's remaining two races."

Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says "Well done to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing for keeping the drivers' championship alive with a thrilling win. Congratulations to Jarno Trulli for scoring Toyota's second podium finish in as many races and also to the reigning champion Lewis Hamilton for his third place for McLaren. We were privileged to have many Bridgestone guests, staff and board members here to enjoy fantastic racing."

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says "From the beginning of the race the soft tyre worked well, however in the second two thirds of the race it really came alive and we saw very good race performance from this tyre. The high track temperature meant that the hard compound could be used at the start which would not be as advisable on a colder track due to longer warm-up requirements. This was a safe strategy for those concerned by any degradation from the soft, however those who did opt to use the soft at the start saw good performance."

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Japan - Suzuka Race Report

Stefano Domenicali: “All things considered, this is a positive result: I don’t think we could have done any more than this fourth place. We got the most out of the F60 as it stands today and, thanks to yet another great drive from Kimi, we also managed to stay third in the Constructors’ classification. Giancarlo also drove a good race, driving competitively in terms of pace and performance, as can be seen from the fact he set the eighth best lap time.”
Kimi Räikkönen: “Today the car wasn’t bad, but it was not quick enough to fight for the podium. This fourth place is useful in terms of keeping the team in third place in the Constructors’ championship, but it will be hard to hang onto it over the final two races. Then there was not much to fight for to the end of the race.”
Giancarlo Fisichella: “I had a better feel for the car this weekend and I think the effect from that could be seen, although maybe not in terms of the results. Now I am looking forward to Interlagos in a more confident mood: it will be important to get a slightly better start position to try and finally make it into the points.”