Japan preview quotes: Bridgestone

Hirohide Hamashima, Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: "The major feature of Fuji is naturally its very long straight which is followed by the first of the slow corners.

"This configuration should present some interesting overtaking opportunities for the drivers so I'm looking forward to seeing the racing next weekend. There are only two high speed corners: the 100R and 300R and consequently I expect that car set-ups will be in a low downforce configuration.

"From a compound point of view, we do not expect problems with wear as the surface is relatively smooth. We could, however, see some graining on the front left tyres, especially from the 100R corner, but we don't believe it will be severe."

Q: Are you confident in Bridgestone's tyre choice for this track?

HH: "We have learnt a lot from racing at Fuji over the years and by combining this knowledge with simulation data we have been able to predict the need for the medium and soft tyres from our 2007 range. We are confident that these tyres will work well and should produce some good racing."