We had the better tyre - Bridgestone.

Bridgestone have insisted that they had the edge at Monte Carlo this weekend and would have done a lot better than a fifth and eighth, if it wasn't for 'events' going against them.

Bridgestone's bid to win the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time since 2001, went pear-shaped late on Saturday, when Michael Schumacher's Ferrari was demoted from pole to the back of the grid following that moment at the end of qualifying, when the German parked his 248 F1 and compromised the final hot laps of a number of drivers' - including Fernando Alonso, who looked set to beat Schumi's time.

In the race itself, Mark Webber took up the Bridgestone baton in his Williams-Cosworth and looked set to finish on the podium until exhaust failure, while Jarno Trulli also went out while lying third with just three laps to go. As such, Michael was the best placed Bridgestone runner at the finish, having charged back up the pack from last. Michael's brother, Ralf was eighth to take the final point.

"Despite not having a Bridgestone runner finish on the podium today I am very proud of the performance of our tyres this weekend. The new soft compounds brought for the Monaco Grand Prix were clearly working very well," said Bridgestone's technical manager, Hisao Suganuma.

"Mark Webber was undoubtedly set for a podium before having to pull over and Michael Schumacher climbed from the back of the field to fifth place. He also set the fastest lap towards the end of the race which really showed the consistency of the tyres as he was on a long second stint. It was then very frustrating to see Jarno Trulli, who was running in third place in the closing stages of the race, retire with a mechanical problem. So, although our teams will leave Monaco with just a handful of points, we feel satisfied that Bridgestone had the better tyre, capable of winning the race."