Monaco Preview Quotes: Bridgestone

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager: "Monaco is a very special race. It is run on the only street circuit, as well as the slowest circuit, on the calendar and has lots of tight corners, which means that rear traction out of the corners will be especially important on this circuit

May 16, 2005, 2:50 PM

"While compounds will be soft for Monaco because of the very smooth nature of the road tarmac, the one set of tyres for qualifying and race rule means that it is likely we will not see compounds as soft as in previous years. We also have to take into account the changing nature of the wear rates of the tyres during the race. We have learnt from previous years that in the early stages, the front tyres have some graining and the wear is higher than on the rear tyres.

"As the race progresses, however, the wear balance shifts to the rear tyres. So there is plenty to take into consideration when deciding the Bridgestone tyre specifications for Monaco and we had a good test last week with Ferrari at the Fiorano circuit to make sure we have made the right choices. It's going to be a very interesting race."