In the early part of this century, engineer Kees van de Grint, as Bridgestone’s tire expert, played a crucial role in Ferrari’s success story, which yielded five world titles through Michael Schumacher. However, not everyone was always satisfied with the Japanese rubber.
In the Classic Special, Kees van de Grint, who worked for Bridgestone for nearly half a century, looks back extensively on the glory days of his Japanese employer with Ferrari. Especially during the so-called debriefs, things could get quite heated, according to Van de Grint.
“After the race, we always had two debriefs at Ferrari. The first one was with the drivers: Michael (Schumacher) and Rubens (Barrichello). Ross Brawn (technical director) always chaired it and said: ‘Okay, Bridgestone is here, let’s discuss the tires with the drivers first’. I was at those debriefs and always a Japanese person as well. Rubens and Michael were very diplomatic in those meetings, never aggressive,” recalls Van de Grint.
But not on that one day after a race. “Once, Rubens was asked about the tires. ‘What did you think?’ To which he replied: ‘I felt like I was driving on Flintstone tires’. Everyone burst into laughter,” says Van de Grint. “Except for the Japanese person sitting next to me. He said: ‘We don’t have any Flintstone tires…’ He didn’t get the joke. Then he asked me what kind of tires those were, Flintstone tires. ‘Rubens thought they were a bit on the hard side,’ I replied politely.
“It was a great time with Ferrari,” believes Kees van de Grint. “The tire manufacturer was part of the team. A unique situation, everything was perfect.”
