Ferrari chief Luca Montezemolo has hit out at tyre supplier Bridgestone after Michael Schumacher’s double tyre failure at Barcelona. “We have a very competitive car, but we have a big problem with the tyres,” he told the press. A statement in response to his remarks read, “Bridgestone understands his frustrations and we are working closer than ever to ensure the competitiveness of the car-tyre package.” Although surely the gist of Montezemolo’s broadside is that it is the weakness of the tyres that compromise the rest of the package.
Montezemolo also blamed the new 2005 rules as being a contributory factor and suggested that they were implemented deliberately to undermine Ferrari’s superiority. “Some regulations that have been made I don’t consider to be suitable for F1, but are fundamental in limiting Ferrari’s dominance,” he claimed. A strange remark, given that Ferrari had an early start on building their 2005 car because of their victorious 2004 season, and were believed to have had early knowledge of the new aerodynamics restrictions.