Schumacher and Bridgestone Claim Seventh Title

Michael Schumacher has claimed a record-breaking seventh world championship title at the Belgian Grand Prix.

On the day the race was won by McLaren’s Kimi Raikonnen on Michelin tyres after a race that was disrupted by three periods of safety car activity. BAR Honda driver, Jenson Button, was involved in one such crash when his Michelin shod vehicle suffered a puncture at the fastest part of the track. Jenson Button’s car then collided with Zsolt Baumgartner’s Minardi. Both men escaped injury in an incident that in Button’s words “could have been horrific.”

Bridgestone Chairman and CEO, Shigeo Watanabe congratulated the world champion: “We would like to extend our congratulations to both Michael Schumacher on winning his fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship and to the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team on its sixth consecutive Constructors’ Championship title. It is a great pleasure and honour for Bridgestone to have contributed to these magnificent achievements as a tyre partner.”

“We’ve had a difficult season. Finally we got what we deserved. I hope we can keep it up for the rest of the season and then challenge next year,” said McLaren’s race winner Kimi Raikkonen.

Describing his race Jenson Button said: “I got a bad start when I was hit by Pizzonia and went wide and into the back of Massa at turn one. Towards the end of my race I felt that I had a problem on the rear and then the tyre let go, so I am very disappointed as we were confident that we would have been on the podium with our strategy.”