Japan Preview Quotes: Michelin

Pierre Dupasquier, motorsport director: "This is one of the finest â€" and most challenging â€" races of the year. It's a real headache for aerodynamicists, who have to devise a set-up that offers the best compromise for high- and low-speed corners plus some long straights. Its late slot in the calendar makes it a good benchmark for teams and suppliers, because they can capitalise on the lessons that have been learned during a long, hard campaign to gauge their standing within F1's hierarchy. The atmosphere should be fantastic, with two strong Japanese manufacturers and one front-running Japanese driver â€" all using Michelin tyres, incidentally â€" and I am confident that we can build on last year's promise, when we appeared to have the race in our pocket until outside factors intervened."

Pascal Vasselon, F1 programme manager: "The end of the season features some fantastic venues, such as Spa, Monza, Shanghai, Suzuka and Interlagos. It is an absolute paradise for drivers and a significant challenge for us. The key factors in Japan will be several sequences of quick corners, where the slightest mistake can cost an awful lot of time. One key facet of Suzuka is its figure-of-eight configuration, which creates an equal blend of left- and right-hand corners. This balances the tyre load so wear rates are not as severe as the circuit's high-speed characteristics might suggest, The track tends to evolve significantly during the course of the weekend, too, and that helps to reduce the strain on rubber by Sunday afternoon. We will have two dry-weather options available for Suzuka, from the medium-hard sector of our range."