Monaco preview quotes: Bridgestone

Q: What are the challenges of the Monte Carlo circuit?

KvdG: "You need as much grip as possible and teams will run their cars with a maximum downforce set-up. Rear traction is crucial with acceleration out of so many corners, but you have to be careful as understeer is not desirable with so much Armco about.

"There is a very high demand on the tyres as they are very soft. We have also worked on minimising the wear rate as we want to allow the teams flexibility with their strategies."

Q: What were the conclusions from testing the soft and super soft tyres in Paul Ricard?

KvdG: "We conducted the first two days of the Paul Ricard test on the soft and super soft compounds on the shorter configuration circuit. The soft compound Bridgestone Potenza was spot on for the Paul Ricard venue while the super soft had higher grip but more graining.

"Paul Ricard is not Monaco but from the data we think that the super soft will perform better there. Of course, we won't know this for sure until we're actually in Monte Carlo."