Grapevine: Teams Seek 'Worn Grooves' Clarification

More controversy hits Formula One, as the F1 paddock in Japan was rife with rumours of an expected row after today's race, concerning the possible performance advantage gained by the Michelin scrubbed-in tyres.

According to the speculation, a protest is expected if a Williams or a Benetton car wins the race on worn - and previously scrubbed-in - rubber. Furthermore, the Bridgestone teams are likely to ask for a clarification on the rules.

Bridgestone, of course, are keen to succeed and win on home soil and have expressed some concern that the Michelin teams - Williams, Benetton, Jaguar, Prost and Minardi - could start the race on worn tyres and then pick up speed the longer the rubber is used.

This has happened elsewhere this year when Williams, in particular, appeared to have an advantage at the start and again later in the race as their worn tyres performed. This morning during warm-up, both Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo-Montoya concentrated their work on scrubbing in their tyres in preparation for the race start.

"It's true that I am still confident about the race, even though qualifying and the race are two different things," said Michael Schumacher after snatching pole. "We will have to see what happens tomorrow, especially when the Michelin runners will run on very worn tyres. Then, a lot will depend on the consistency of our Bridgestones."

The subject of tyre wear was brought up last year, when Michelin asked for rules clarification on the matter. According to the FIA regulations, tyres must carry grooves but are only inspected when they are new, not after use. The FIA regulations does state, however, that the FIA may change this rule at any time should it find excessive tyre wear gains unfair advantage to its users.

"The lap times we have seen so far this weekend indicate that we have the advantage in terms of consistency and we expect stability in the performance of our tyres in the race," commented Bridgestone technical manager Hisao Suganuma, "There should be no need for Bridgestone cars to race on scrubbed tyres."