Michelin better on adverse soil

Michelin dominated the Japanese Grand Prix which is the home GP of rival Bridgestone. It's the 17th victory for the French tyre supplier this year. Bridgestone's first driver was again Michael Schumacher, who finished 7th today.

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director “What a fantastic race – it was a privilege to play a small but vital role in such clash of the titans, RenaultF1 and McLaren-Mercedes. I was delighted that Michelin’s tyres enabled its partners to perform in such a spectacular manner through the 53 laps – and the ferocious pace did not compromise our customary performance or durability. This was a perfect illustration of how the current F1 regulations provide the basis for great racing.”

Nick Shorrock, Director of Michelin F1 activities “It’s great to celebrate our first win at Suzuka – and particularly in such circumstances, in a race that was full of entertaining battles from the first lap to the last. We have managed to evolve our F1 tyres throughout the season without ever dulling our competitive edge and both our ‘prime’ and ‘option’ compounds were highly competitive today. The early safety-car period naturally caused pressures to drop, but this had no adverse effect. Our tyres performed in a safe, effective manner in all conditions throughout the afternoon.”

Ron Dennis, McLaren Group chairman “It’s a fantastic reward for the team’s effort in what has been a challenging weekend. The strategy was executed in a professional and discipline manner and Michelin also performed to their usual high standard. That was probably Kimi’s best race yet – the result of a great team effort. Michelin played a crucial role in our success and we’re all now looking forward to China.”

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager “We are disappointed to have lost our home Grand Prix today. Rubens had a collision with another car in the opening lap, lost position and was unable to really get back into the race. Michael made a good start which kept him up with the front runners and taking into account his fuel load, we are quite satisfied with his lap times. The times were also consistent which was good to see in this afternoon’s relatively warm conditions. Unfortunately, he was unable to make a stronger challenge today and as he also lost a position in the pitstop, seventh was the best he could do. However, it was a fascinating race today with plenty of overtaking and defending going on. I hope the China Grand Prix will be as entertaining.”