Button: Michelin Have Big Advantage Over Bridgestone

Jenson Button has turned up the pressure on Bridgestone, who supply tyres to both his BAR-Honda team and to Ferrari, suggesting that the Italian team's recent failure to dominate was due to the quality of their rubber's performance.

Button, seeking to raise the tempo in advance of this weekend's British Grand Prix, said he believed that Michelin, who supply the on-form Williams-BMW team, were currently on top in the Formula One tyre war.

"If you look at Ferrari, where they should be with their new car, they are not," Button said. "Ferrari are struggling. They were so excited about the new car at the start of the season, but they are being beaten by last year's McLaren. It's a very strange situation.

"It's amazing. You can do the best job in every area on the car or the engine, spend as much money as you want, but if you bolt on a set of tyres that don't work, that's it. That's what we can see with the Ferrari.

"The Michelins have got an advantage and it's quite a big advantage at the moment. It's good for the Championship, but it's not very good for our Championships."

Button's comments came in the face of confident words from defending World Champion Michael Schumacher following Ferrari's recent intensive testing.