MAY 13, 2003

Bridgestone has new tires for Ferrari

Michael Schumacher won the Spanish Grand Prix using tires which had not been designed specifically for the Ferrari F2003 GA. He was thus at something of a disadvantage. In recent days however there have been intensive tests for Bridgestone teams with Ferrari, BAR, Sauber and Jordan all in action at various locations. Ferrari is now expected to have the right tires for Austria and that could be bad news for the team's rivals.

The tire companies have also agreed to take a supply of extreme weather tires to all remaining Grands Prix to ensure that there are no problems such as occurred in Brazil where cars were having to be run in very wet conditions on intermediate tires. These extreme weather tires will only be used if the Race Director specifically informs the teams of the need to run them.