Gascoyne: New Michelins Faster than Previous Ones

Michelin have provided their teams with a new, narrower tyre to comply with the FIA's new instructions on tread width - and Renault's technical director Mike Gascoyne believes these new tyres are in fact better than the previous, controversial ones.

The FIA sent instructions to the teams last week, warning them the tread width of front tyres will be measured after use, as of the Italian Grand Prix. Previously measurements of tread width were taken on new tyres only, and information provided to the FIA by Ferrari indicated Michelin tyres have been extending their tread width while in use.

And, while Michelin initially said it would not be able to produce a new tyre in time for the Italian Grand Prix, the French tyre maker complied with requests from the teams and brought to Monza a new, narrower tyre, which was tested today extensively by all five Michelin partners.

"Thanks to our technical partners at Michelin, who have reacted incredibly quickly

and effectively over the last few days, our tyre testing went very well," Gascoyne said today, adding: "In fact, using the new shape tyre, we actually noted a small performance advantage over its predecessor."

Six of the Michelin runners were in the top ten in testing today, with only two Ferrari-Bridgestone cars in the top five.