By Bridgestone Press Release
July 23 2004

German Grand Prix Friday Practice results for Bridgestone Motorsport’s four teams: Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Sauber Petronas, Jordan Ford and Wilux Minardi Cosworth. Bridgestone equipped Michael Schumacher has started his home grand prix in strong form setting the fastest time of the day in the second of the two, one-hour long practice sessions. Rubens Barrichello who currently lies second behind his teammate in the drivers’ championship standings, also had a productive day working through his tyre and set-up options. Sauber Petronas drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa have been looking strong, with Fisichella posting the fifth fastest time in this morning’s session. Today’s conditions at Hockenheim have been scorching and the track relatively 'green' but improving as running progressed.

Bridgestone Results:

1st Practice:

• 2nd M Schumacher 1:15.864
• 5th G Fisichella 1:16.451
• 7th R Barrichello 1:16.493
• 14th F Massa 1:17.361
• 18th N Heidfeld 1:18.257
• 19th T Glock 1:18.768
• 21st G Bruni 1:19.088
• 22nd B Leinders 1:19.270
• 23rd Z Baumgartner 1:19.959
• 24th G Pantano 1:20.029

2nd Practice:

• 1st M Schumacher 1:15.001
• 9th R Barrichello 1:15.738
• 16th F Massa 1:16.865
• 17th G Fisichella 1:17.026
• 20th T Glock 1:17.724
• 21st G Pantano 1:17.869
• 22nd Z Baumgartner 1:18.098
• 23rd B Leinders 1:18.224
• 24th N Heidfeld 1:18.243
• 25th G Bruni 1:18.309

Hisao Suganuma, Bridgestone Motorsport Technical Manager:

"The track was very green this morning which meant we saw some graining on the front tyres. This in turn produced some understeer but in the second session, track conditions improved steadily and so the amount of graining reduced. Judging by today’s results, the 'soft' and 'hard' specifications look competitive so now it is a matter of checking the tyre wear so that we can make our best recommendations to the teams regarding their final tyre choice for the qualifying session tomorrow and the race."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"It’s going to be a weekend for tyres. The track temperatures were very hot today but we’ve got a picture of which Bridgestone tyre we want to race. It’s a question of whether we choose the fastest tyre or the more consistent tyre so we have to look at all the data and check it through. Michael made good progress with his car while Rubens was a little unhappy with his braking so we’ve got some work to do with him tonight. Pleasingly, we are competitive in the hot conditions and it shouldn’t get any hotter than this all weekend."

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