By BMW Sauber F1 / Bridgestone
February 18 2007

The new Bridgestone tyres have been at the centre of in Formula One's pre-season tests. Initially, the teams were required to gather as much as experience as possible with the new control tyres of the Japanese manufacturer.

Bridgestone engineer Kees van de Grint talks about the current status of the season preparation.

The BMW Sauber F1 Team was able to cope well with the Bridgestone tyres during test drives in Valencia, Jerez and Barcelona and convinced with competitive lap times. "From what we have seen so far in testing there is no reason to change the specification of the tyres we have produced," van de Grint commented on the work completed so far. "We have produced a good tyre for the teams to race on for this season."

Due to difficult weather conditions, rain tyres were frequently used over the past weeks. The testing programme in Barcelona was the first occasion the teams were able to use dry tyres entirely. Particularly here the Bridgestone tyres showed their durability. No surprise for van de Grint, who says: "We think we did our homework quite well in the winter and I think the tyres are quite suitable. Having said that, we need to bear in mind that we will go to a much hotter climate in the future."

This will already be the case in the last weeks of February. The BMW Sauber F1 Team will test in the Kingdom of Bahrain from 22nd to 24th February and from 27th February to 1st March. Roughly three weeks later, on 18th March, the 2007 Formula One season kicks-off with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.