De la Rosa: Michelin must improve front tyres

De la Rosa - the only F1 driver to have experience of both manufacturers' 2001-spec rubber - completed his first test with the Jaguar Racing team in mixed conditions at Silverstone last week. This allowed him to evaluate all of Michelin's different compounds, and he says it has its work cut out to match the front-end grip offered by Bridgestone's front tyres.

"I come from using Bridgestones and the Michelin tyres are different from what I expected," he said. "They are more understeery. They make the front end very lazy, which is not really what you need to make the car go quicker, because the slower you are going into a corner, the slower the lap time. That is the major factor Michelin has to improve."

De la Rosa tested Bridgestone's new rubber for Arrows at Barcelona at the end of January, just weeks before the Leafield team dumped him. He got his first taste of Michelin tyres with Prost GP at Estoril in Portugal in February before he defected to the Jaguar team.

The Spaniard is working with the French rubber manufacturer in its attempt to play catch-up to Bridgestone, which locked out the points-scoring positions in the Australian Grand Prix. The top Michelin runner home was the eighth placed Jaguar of Luciano Burti.

"They [Michelin] are working very hard," said de la Rosa. "We are actually trying different compounds and different construction to improve that area, which I think is the main difference. Bridgestone tyres have better turn-in. You have to work in two ways. Firstly, to make the car suit the tyres so as to keep a good balance and, secondly, on the tyres themselves. You have to work on them both together, because the tyres have to move and the chassis has to let the tyres move.

"Michelin has a lot of work to do, but I must say that I have no doubt that they will come up to speed during the season. I have a lot of faith in Michelin."