Bridgestone plans to stay ahead

Despite taking its fourth consecutive drivers' and constructors' championships with Ferrari in Hungary last month, the Japanese firm is keen to stay ahead following the continued threat from the Michelin-shod Williams team, which has taken three wins this year.

"We have already begun a full and complete analysis of our performance this year," said Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone's head of tyre development. "Careful examination of how we have performed in every race is extremely important towards developing next year's tyres. The aim is to identify our strengths, but also identify any areas where we were not so strong.

"Our performance at tracks like Monaco and Hungary was obviously strong. There are other circuits where we are not, so we have to work on improving our performance there, especially at those tracks that are dominated by straights."

Lap times have been up to four seconds faster at certain tracks this year and as competition between the tyre companies continues, Hamashima believes lap records will continue to be broken.

"The average fall in lap times this year has been about two seconds," he said. "This is because of an improvement in the cars as well as competition with our rival [Michelin]. I believe about 30 percent of the reduction is down to the development of tyres. I think it is fair to expect that this trend will continue next year."

Bridgetsone also has the added worry that the front-running McLaren team is set to switch to Michelin next year following Ferrari's recent announcement that it will continue with the Japanese firm until 2004.