Michelin has 'logistical advantage'

Ron Dennis has warned against concluding that Michelin has taken a decisive advantage in the Formula 1 tyre war, but says that the switch to the French rubber has given McLaren logistical benefits.

Speaking after qualifying in Sao Paulo, where Michelin-shod cars claimed seven of the top 10 slots on the grid, Dennis said: "You don't have to be Einstein to realise that Michelin has, for qualifying at least, made a better tyre than Bridgestone. But Bridgestone seemed to have a very good tyre at the Barcelona test last week and it would be foolish to think that one or other company is going to dominate the season.

"For the race here, we anticipate that the Michelin advantage will continue and I'd be surprised if a Michelin-shod car doesn't win.

"Inevitably in a tyre war, one company takes a development step in compound or construction and then its rival has to match or surpass that. With constant development Michelin has a logistical advantage because it can make a tyre, test it and then be manufacturing it the next day."

Bridgestone, however, being Japanese-based, has more problems with logistics and that, Dennis says, "is why we thought that changing was a wise move."

Meanwhile, Bridgestone's motorsport's technical manager Hisao Suganuma has admitted that losing McLaren has hurt the Japanese company.

"The biggest effect is that we have less chance of testing and that affects our development speed," he said. "Everyone says that we can develop just for Ferrari but that's not right. The disadvantage of losing test miles hurts us more."