Red Bull Dominates Bridgestone’s “Final Home F1 GP”

Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel won his third Grand Prix of the season after using a soft-hard Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy in a fast-paced, close and exciting Japanese Grand Prix. Pole-man Vettel led team-mate Mark Webber across the line by less than a second for Red Bull Racing’s third 1-2 of the season. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Fernando Alonso finished third. Shoshi Arakawa, Bridgestone chairman of the Board, CEO and president delivered a parting message to Formula One: “For Bridgestone it was our final home Grand Prix. I am proud that we have supported the pinnacle of motorsport for the last 14 years. I would like to thank all the teams, drivers, fans and everyone involved in Formula One. I wish Formula One a prosperous future. We look forward to supporting all teams and drivers for the remaining three races.”

On the race, Hirohide Hamashima, director of Motorsport Tyre Development, declared himself pleased with what he had seen from both a tyre and a fan’s perspective: “We enjoyed a thrilling race with different tyre strategies and very strong tyre performance from both compounds, even from the start when the track surface was still green. After half distance the track surface had improved a lot with the rubber being laid assisted by the fabulous warm weather. Even at the start of the race our soft tyre gave solid performance when the conditions were most difficult for it. We are very proud to have shown our passion for excellence with superb tyres which allowed close racing with no safety issues. I am also very happy that there is another strong Japanese presence in Formula 1 with Kamui, who made many overtaking moves today.”

Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Bridgestone Motorsport, concluded: “Well done to Red Bull for their third 1-2 of the season and Ferrari and Fernando for their third place in a fantastic race here at Suzuka. I am happy that so many spectators enjoyed this race and that our Bridgestone brand was so well represented by the on track performance. Our name has been seen all around the world through our prominent track branding. I think that Formula 1 is a great asset for Bridgestone and I am looking forward to the final three races of this exciting championship battle.”