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Bridgestone Motorsport celebrated the 110th Formula One Grand Prix victory
on Bridgestone Potenza tyres after McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton
took the chequered flag for his first Formula One victory at the Canadian
Grand Prix.
Hamilton delivered a faultless performance in an incident filled race with
no fewer than four safety car periods. The momentous win took place just
hours after Casey Stoner scored the fifth victory on Bridgestone tyres at
the Circuit de Catalunya in the MotoGP category this season.
 Both
Bridgestone Potenza compounds withstood the high track temperatures and
fluctuations in tyre pressure brought about by the numerous safety car
periods, allowing a variety of strategies. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)
converted his third place on the grid to second in the race whilst Alex Wurz
(Williams Toyota) drove through the field from 19th at the start to the
final podium spot by employing a single stop strategy, completing 40 laps on
the super soft compound in his final stint.
Heikki Kovalainen (Renault) finished in fourth after a strong drive through
the field whilst Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) was fifth. Super Aguri driver
Takuma Sato overtook Fernando Alonso (McLaren Mercedes) in the late stages
of the race to finish in sixth position. Alonso was seventh whilst Ralf
Schumacher (Toyota) took the final point. The Bridgestone Potenzas employed
on the safety car
performed faultlessly too in the four stints they ran at the head of the
field.
Hamilton now leads the drivers' championship with 48 points to Alonso's 40
whilst McLaren Mercedes lead the constructors' championship with 88 points
to Ferrari's 60. Bridgestone Motorsport heads now to the tough test of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway where the soft and medium specification Potenzas
will be put through their paces on the punishing Indy banking.
Kees van de Grint, Bridgestone Motorsport Head of Track Engineering
Operations said:
"It was an excellent victory by Lewis Hamilton who did everything perfectly.
He looked after his Potenzas very well and this is shown by his dominant
performance. Nick Heidfeld drove a fine race too and after their
difficulties early in the weekend the drives of Alex Wurz and Heikki
Kovalainen were particularly noteworthy. Due to the number of safety car
periods it is difficult to judge the
performance of the two compounds of Potenza. My impression is that the soft
was more consistent whilst the super soft presented more of a challenge with
graining, which some managed better than others. In terms of heat resistance
and wear rates there were no issues and this was illustrated in particular
by Wurz running for 40 laps on the super soft. As happy as I am with the
results we've seen today my thoughts are with Robert Kubica after his
incident. There was enough drama in today's race to fill a book." |
