Michelin Optimistic Ahead of Qualifying

French tyre manufacturer Michelin are optimistic of a strong performance in tomorrow's qualifying following a dominant practice session on Friday.

McLaren drivers David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen topped the timesheets, and eight of the top ten runners today were using the rubber from the French manufacturer, who are aiming to score their third victory of the season in their home race on Sunday.

Michelin benefitted from the very hot track temperatures to enjoy a promising start, and their boss Pierre Dupasquier said he was confident of another strong showing in qualifying and the race.

"It has been a very productive session," said Dupasquier at the end of the day. "Today our partner teams have conducted lots of tests with the two kinds of dry-weather tyre we brought to this race.

"So far the results are not absolutely consistent, because the same type of tyre is producing conflicting results for different teams, but we have acquired a large quantity of data and that has given us plenty of thinking to do before tomorrow's qualifying session.

"Generally I think we have reason to be guardedly optimistic about our prospects for tomorrow and Sunday."

The majority of the teams today spent the session trying to choose between the "primary" or the "option" tyre compound for the rest of the weekend, with most admitting that the decision would be hard considering the track conditions.

"The primary tyre has been used before during a race weekend â€" at Silverstone, for example," he added. "The option is a new compound that has produced very promising results during a series of tests at different circuits. It is likely that both will be used during the race on Sunday."