Michael gives Bridgestone the edge - just.

Michael Schumacher drove to victory in Brazil on Bridgestone tyres after battling for virtually the entire race against his brother Ralf.

The elder Schumacher had started from second place on the grid but was soon in front when he overtook pole position driver Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian's race for victory ended soon after when he collided with the back of the Ferrari.

After that, Michael led for most of the whole race, against expectations doing just one stop on his Bridgestone tyres. By the end, he was just half a second ahead of his brother but a superb drive saw him take the chequered flag in the F2002's debut race.

It was a race of attrition for the other Bridgestone runners - Michael and Takuma Sato, who finished in ninth place for Jordan Honda, were the only drivers on Bridgestone tyres to complete the 71 laps.

Ferrari Technical Director Ross Brawn said: "The tyres performed very well. People thought we were doing one thing with the strategy and we did another, so I was pleased with that. It was a tough race but it all fell into place."

Hisao Suganuma - Technical Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport added: "Naturally, I am delighted with today's result in a race that we expected would be very tough. I must thank Michael and Ferrari for doing such a good job. The one-stop strategy was a team decision but that fact they were able to do it demonstrates that our tyres had the capability."

"Looking at Michael's lap times, it's clear the new tyre we brought here helped the consistency of his performance in these hot conditions. Nevertheless, the gap to Williams was close and there is room for improvement on our part so we will be addressing this in our future development."