Italy preview quotes: Michelin

"The long straights at Monza require a minimum of downforce to allow the cars to achieve maximum speeds in excess of 350 KPH on four or five occasions each lap. There are however some challenging bends and in particular the two Lesmo bends.

"In addition, almost half the track has been resurfaced this year including the two Lesmo bends. This change impacted the test session last week when we needed to change our reference tyres because the track was significantly less severe on the tyres.

"The test week at Monza was a very heavy programme after several weeks of no testing. During the week, as well as doing the normal tyre choices for the Monza GP, we have been pursuing our overall tyre development package with our partners. We have been looking at tyre compounds, tyre constructions and examining ways that teams can develop greater performance from the overall car/tyre package.

"In addition to the tyre testing work, our partners were also very busy testing their latest developments of chassis, aero and engine. With both World Championships still wide open, the objective of such tests is to be able to tune the car package to be as effective as possible and to try to gain vital tenths or even hundredths of a second.

"The work we do for tyres contributes to these gains but clearly our partners are equally keen to demonstrate their ability to improve the basic car performance. This is true for all our teams who are keen to contribute more points to their current tally."