Brazil Preview Quotes: Michelin

Pierre Dupasquier, motorsport director: "Interlagos is one of the most exciting venues on the grand prix calendar â€" partly because its unusual, anti-clockwise layout offers several potential overtaking spots, partly because of the vibrant atmosphere. Michelin has performed exceptionally well here since it returned to F1 after a 17-year sabbatical, but the history books don't reflect as much. Juan Pablo Montoya dominated in 2001 until a lapped car pushed him off the track, Ralf Schumacher was a very close second in 2002 and last season our drivers controlled the race in monsoon conditions before a bizarre sequence of circumstances conspired to deny us. I am confident that we will once again provide our partners with tyres that are capable of challenging for victory. As previous experience shows, however, that on its own isn't always enough."

Pascal Vasselon, F1 programme manager: "Although the race is taking place almost seven months later than usual, weather conditions are unlikely to be very different â€" and that means heavy rain is always a distinct possibility. If you get mixed wet/dry conditions at Interlagos, you find that a number of rivers accumulate at certain points on the circuit. These areas remain very damp, even when the rest of the circuit has dried out. I'm sure lots of people remember the F1 scrap yard that developed between Turns Three and Four during last season's corresponding race. In dry conditions, the track surface is very abrasive and wear rates are high. It is consequently very tricky to produce tyres that will be consistent over a long run. Furthermore, qualifying times tend to be very close and you need to be aware that losing a tenth of a second could cost you several places on the grid. So, a conservative approach has to be avoided. We will have a relatively large number of dry-weather tyre options â€" four, to be exact â€" and it will be very interesting to analyse their performance on Friday, when teams have to finalise their race selections."