Indy pole sitter Michael Schumacher has hinted that Bridgestone’s tyre advantage this weekend could be linked to the six-car disaster of 2005.
The Ferrari driver was asked by reporters if he thought rival supplier Michelin had prepared its product for the United States GP conservatively in order to guarantee an avoidance of the same saga.
”I cannot judge that,” Schumacher said. ”I only know that our tyre is the same as the one we had in Canada.”
Renault’s Fernando Alonso, fifth on the Indianapolis grid and a clear second and a half slower than the Bridgestone pace, dominated the Montreal event.
Moreover, this is only the third time in 2006 that a Michelin-shod car has not snatched pole.
Schumacher, with his 67th career qualifying triumph, continued: ”Our tyres and our car are completely the same as they were one week ago.”
Renault’s Pat Symonds indicated that Michelin’s ‘main concern’ at Indianapolis was to have a safe tyre.
”And the professional engineering approach that Michelin has taken has given us just that,” the Briton added.
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