Bridgestone proud of 2006 achievements

That is the view of the Japanese tyre manufacturer's outgoing technical manager Hisao Suganuma, who has told autosport.com that he is more than satisfied with the work Bridgestone did this year to help Ferrari fight for the titles.

"I think we made a big step forward in terms of tyre performance this year, so from the engineering point of view I am really happy about this year's outcome," said Suganuma, who saw his company bounce back after a troubled 2005 campaign.

"We developed the new construction during the winter testing and that helped quite well. Those new constructions helped the compound quite a lot, so we could use full performance of the compounds and that allowed us to use the softer range of compounds.

"That gave better performance to the car, so that was where we made quite a good success with the tyre. So I am quite satisfied with the outcome of this season's campaign."

Suganuma will leave Formula One after winter testing, with his tour of duty in the sport coming to an end. Japanese company policy dictates frequent personnel rotation, so he will return to Bridgestone's motorsport division in Tokyo.

When asked if he was sad to be leaving the sport, he said: "I like Formula One very much, so in that respect I am a little bit disappointed. But on the other hand going back to Japan, because I am Japanese, it means that I can be together with my family again, which is nice."