Bridgestone vow to improve tyre selection

The Bridgestone runners struggled at the start of the race, when the track was still wet, as the Japanese manufacturer had chosen tyres which proved too hard for the track.

Rivals Michelin dominated the race from start to finish, with six of their runners taking the point-scoring positions.

Suganuma said his company will learn from today's mistakes.

"Today's race was a difficult one," said Suganuma. "It seems that our standard wet tyre is a bit too hard for this track and therefore in the early stages of the race the Bridgestone runners were slightly disadvantaged.

"As the track dried up however, they were able to pick up pace and Michael Schumacher did well to climb up to second.

"Unfortunately, a track-rod problem resulted in his retirement. The other Bridgestone runners also experienced better performance in the drying conditions but they simply lost too much time at the beginning of the race.

"It is now up to us to learn from this race and make sure we improve our tyre selection for the future."

Ralf Schumacher in his Toyota was sixth for Brigestone, while Felipe Massa scored a point for Ferrari.