Canada preview quotes - Bridgestone

Q: How much of a challenge are the two North American races?

KvdG: Logistics-wise the two North American races are a challenge because first of all we need to ship all the tyres and equipment there. The fitting kit for Canada was shipped from Australia whilst the kit for the USA was shipped from Malaysia. Obviously we don't have the usual facilities as we do on the short haul. It's a big organisational operation but fortunately we have a lot of good people who manage that so we always have the right equipment available. We're not improvising when we get there, but it is different. For example, in Canada the tyre fitting area is on a temporary pontoon over the lake.

Q: What are the challenges of the Circuit du Gilles Villeneuve?

KvdG: It is a big challenge for the teams as the brakes suffer a lot. There's a lot of heat generated and because of this we can also expect high temperatures in the tyres. Similar to Monte Carlo, being more or less a street circuit, Montreal is not used many times so it's very dusty and very slippery, which is why we've opted for the soft and super soft compounds. It will be a bit of a challenge to make the tyres survive on this track, especially at the beginning of the weekend with the high speeds and the expected high temperatures."