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European Grand Prix: Saturday News Round-Up

Bridgestone: Do not expect a repeat of Canada; Kubica not ready to commit to 2011 drive

Bridgestone does not expect drivers to encounter similar tyre issues in the European Grand Prix, as they experienced last time out in Canada.

Although teams experienced graining problems during the opening practice sessions in Valencia, the Japanese tyre supplier believes that both compounds of tyres will not be subjected to extreme degradation.

“The data so far says that even super soft has no degradation, minus degradation, so unfortunately it will be a not so interesting race,” Bridgestone’s director of motorsport tyre development Hirohide Hamashima told Autosport.

“Maybe everybody will use super soft in Q3, and then during the race there will be not so much drama.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, he added: “At other races that will be very, very difficult because only Hockenheim, of the remaining circuits, could be like that.

“In Hungary if we brought the super soft and hard, nobody would use the hard. And at Suzuka/Monza, the super soft is impossible because of heat durability, so that is for safety reasons.”

Meanwhile the F1 driver market appeared to heat up in Valencia, after speculation emerged which stated that Robert Kubica was in line to join Mercedes.

However, although these reports appear wide of the mark, the Polish driver has yet to commit himself to Renault for a further year.

When speaking to Autosport, he said: “I don’t know. I haven’t made my decision yet.”

“I am not the kind of person who thinks in three years’ time, I am not the kind of person who is thinking in three weeks’ time, to be honest,”

“When people started talking in March or April about 2011, I was not even thinking about it.

“What the future will bring we will see. I believe that every single person, everything, has its own time, so timing is very important. But I don’t think you have to stress the timing too much. Very soon I will have to take my own decisions and then we will see.”

More to follow…

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