Brazil Preview Quotes: Bridgestone

The 4.309km Interlagos circuit is the first anti-clockwise circuit of the calendar and presents drivers with a number of slow to medium speed left-hand corners. The circuit's undulating nature also means that drivers require good grip and high durability and consistency from their tyres. Of the 1,100 latest development race tyres due to arrive in Sao Paulo next week, these include a number of different specifications, some of which have been seen before this season.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Motorsport: "Admittedly the first two grands prix of the season have not been as rewarding as hoped but that has only served to spur us on. It seems we have some true competition this year and I look forward with great anticipation to the Brazilian round. Michael [Schumacher] won on Bridgestone tyres in Brazil last year and we are quietly confident that our tyres will give our teams the performance they need to put them on the podium next weekend. We are aiming for maximum points. Regarding the transportation of an advance batch of tyres, this is a precautionary measure only and we do not anticipate any problems at this stage."

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager: "The nature of the Brazilian circuit and the slightly more abrasive track surface compared to say, Malaysia, is such that we need to make sure that our tyres perform consistently - especially the rear tyres. Whilst the range of the tyres for the first three races is roughly the same i.e. mid to soft, we have made minor adjustments to the compound of some of our tyres to suit the Interlagos circuit. We have been working hard evaluating the slightly disappointing results of the past few weeks and we're confident that our tyres will be competitive next weekend. Our teams should also see further improvements over the coming weeks."