Bridgestone Respond to di Montezemolo

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said on Monday that he believed the number one factor in his team's struggles in Formula One was Bridgestone's lack of performance. His comments came after a double puncture put Michael Schumacher out of the Spanish Grand Prix.

But rather than react angrily to di Montezemolo's stance, Bridgestone have made it clear that co-operation between the tyre manufacturer and the team are now key to helping Ferrari end their victory drought.

"Mr Montezemolo is understandably concerned by Ferrari's results so far this season and in particular after Michael Schumacher's retirement from the Spanish GP following the loss of air from two tyres," said Bridgestone in a statement issued to Autosport-Atlas.
 
"Bridgestone understands his frustrations and we are working closer than ever to ensure the competitiveness of the car-tyre package.

"Modern day Formula One cars are now extremely sophisticated and we are fortunate that Bridgestone and Ferrari share the close technical relationship that others envy. We have overcome challenges together in the past and are confident of doing so again." 

Bridgestone have flown the tyres that failed on Schumacher's car back to their Japanese headquarters to try and understand the cause of the double failures.

And although they are not willing to speculate on the causes of the punctures prior to the investigation, a spokesman has admitted that it is unlikely to have been caused by simple tyre wear.

"We will not be forced into giving an inaccurate reason for the loss of air without a full investigation," a spokesman told Autosport-Atlas.

"Safety is our prime concern and we will not take any chances in getting to the bottom of the deflations.  All race tyres return to Japan after events. We are also working with Ferrari and will have full access to available and relevant data.

"It is unusual for both tyres on the same side of the car to lose air within a few laps.  Michael reported that before the first incident the car felt unstable on the lap before. 

"After an initial investigation the wear on the rear tyre was within accepted levels with the grooves in place.  Rubens did not report any similar issues, although he did report some blistering of his tyres."