Bridgestone previews the British GP
Bridgestone will take its hard and soft compounds to the Silverstone race circuit for round eight of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the British Grand Prix on June 19-21, the last scheduled Grand Prix at this track.
This race is something of a homecoming for Bridgestone Motorsport as their British base is located just 70 miles away in Langley, near Heathrow airport. This means it will be a busy weekend for the Japanese tyre company, with guests and family amidst the crowds to see Bridgestone’s elite force of tyre technicians and engineers hard at work supplying tyres to all the teams in F1. Competitors face the challenge of a predominantly high speed circuit, with a low speed section before the start-finish straight. The high speeds and also the abrasive nature of the track surface mean that tyres are worked hard over the weekend.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What are the challenges of Silverstone?“The low speed section of the track, before the start-finish straight, is a breeding ground for graining so we expect to see quite a lot of this here, especially at the beginning of the weekend. The majority of a lap at Silverstone is very fast so cars require good fast corner stability and the tyres need good heat and wear resistance. The last sector is lower speed so a good set-up has to work well here as well as in the high speed sections.”
Are there particular weather considerations for Silverstone?“Last year’s race was wet and we have often seen changeable weather here so it could be interesting. Silverstone has an abrasive track surface and it does dry quite quickly from being wet. We have not used our new intermediate compound in a wet race yet. It is a soft compound but we are confident it will work well, even at an abrasive circuit like Silverstone.”
Stats & Facts
Number & Spec of tyres brought to Silverstone: 1800 (Hard & Soft. Intermediate/wets)
Pole position time 2008: 1min 21.049secs (Kovalainen)
Fastest race lap 2008: 1min 32.150secs (Raikkonen)
Top three 2008: Hamilton, Heidfeld, Barrichello
