'Rubber was the difference,' says Fry

BAR boss Nick Fry claims Ferrari’s massive improvement at the weekend was down to tyre supplier Bridgestone.

World champion Michael Schumacher banished an awful start to the season with a scintillating drive from 13th on the grid to second place.

The Ferrari ace would have won had Renault’s Fernando Alonso not defended superbly and Fry admits he was stunned by the turnaround in Schumacher’s season.

He concedes Bridgestone tyres were the ones to have at Imola, not the Michelins preferred by all Ferrari’s chief rivals.

He said: “I’m surprised by the improvement in the Bridgestone tyre, to be 1.5 seconds faster than the opposition is the tyre, not the car.

“I think the Renault is a very good car, ours is a very good car and I’m sure the Ferrari is a very good car – but it has not got 1.5 seconds in the chassis.”

Bridgestone boss Hisao Suganuma also felt tyres were the key to Schumacher’s incredible pace.

“Our tyre performance at the weekend was undoubtedly an improvement on the previous races,” he said.

“It was a shame that Michael wasn’t quite able to snatch the lead but from a tyre point of view I think it fair to say that the Bridgestone was the better tyre.

“Having said that, we are not getting carried away. We know we still have to keep pushing and working on improvements.”