Today all teams except Arrows have tested ...

Published on 03 November 1998 by Verstappen Info Page

Today all teams except Arrows have tested the new Bridgestone tyres that will be used next year at the circuit of Suzuka. Next year Bridgestone will be the only supplier of tyres. The '99 spec tyres have four grooves in the front wheel which has a dramatic impact on lap times. Mr. Hirohide Hamashima, technical director about today's test: "The limited supply of tyres did not prevent us gathering some useful data from the cars taking part. In fact I can already say that we appear to be working in the right direction. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that there is a big reduction in lap times with the new four-groove front tyres."

David Coulthard was fastest in today's tyre test with a best lap time of 1:41.296 (80 laps). Michael Schumacher was second fastest with 1:41.801 (52 laps), Giancarlo Fisichella was third fastest with a time of 1:42.944 (56 laps). Numbers 4 to 12 were Wurz (1:42.549), Ralf Schumacher in a Williams (1:42.823), Damon Hill (1:43.505), Jean Alesi (1:43.801), Toranosuke Takagi (1:44.015), Jarno Trulli (1:44.162), Rubens Barichello (1:44.709), Shinji Nakano (1:44.888) and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in a Jordan (1:46.471).