Rubens pays tribute to Bridgestone

With Michelin claiming pole position through Juan Pablo Montoya and a number of other drivers qualifying well on the French rubber, it was widely believed that a warm race day could see Williams challenging Ferrari at Monza.

After the race, however, Michael Schumacher said: "I believe that here, with the tyre we brought, the temperature going up has actually been in our favour."

Ferrari had been a little concerned after the last four-day Monza test, and so Bridgestone produced a brand new tyre in Japan over the weekend preceding the race.

Race winner Rubens Barrichello said: "This tyre was just fantastic. It was just getting better and better the whole time. The car was really well balanced, good under braking and I must thank Bridgestone because it was just a fantastic victory."

It had been pointed out earlier in the season that Michelin's European base allows the French company to respond quicker to developments in testing, but Bridgestone showed in Italy that it can also achieve rapid reaction times.

Technical manager Hisao Suganuma said: "We knew we weren't quite there with the tyre after last week's test, so we decided to bring a new specification that had not been track-tested before. I was confident that it was the right decision and I would like to dedicate the win to everyone at the factory who gave up their weekend."

Barrichello's third win of the season was the 13th secured on Bridgestone rubber this season in just 15 races.