Bridgestone expect to continue French form

Schumacher made best use of a new family of compounds to put Ferrari back in the hunt for the world championship with a well earned win in front of Fernando Alonso.

And having been able to win the race despite using a soft tyre in the very hot conditions, the result has left Bridgestone technical manager Hisao Suganuma bullish about repeating that result in the forthcoming hot races in Germany, Hungary and Turkey.

"Ferrari's result in Magny-Cours is important especially in light of the choice that was made, that is to take part in the Grand Prix with the soft compound," Suganuma told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"It was risky, considering the critical weather conditions but it all went well, even though after qualifying we were a bit worried about the graining."

With track temperatures rising from 44 degrees centigrade on Friday to 56 degrees on Sunday, Schumacher had to be careful with his tyres throughout the race - and it was easier for him to do that if he started on used tyres.

"Used tyres suffer less from graining, but Schumacher was good at letting them cool whenever he felt he had stressed them too much, thus preventing overheating problems," explained Suganuma.

"Later, when there was more rubber on the track, everything became easier with fresh tyre sets.

"If soft tyres behaved so well with such heat, then it means that we are on the right track, and we know similar conditions can occur in the next three races."

Ferrari are testing at Paul Ricard in France this week on developments and tyre work that will be used over the next three races.