Michelin: Hungary Tyre Measurements Not Evidence

Michelin would not accept measurements taken by the FIA after the Hungarian Grand Prix on front tyre tread width as official and cannot confirm the exact measurements as reported to them, the French company told Atlas F1 today.

In a feature published by Atlas F1, in this week's magazine, Michelin sporting director Pierre Dupasquier revealed that "after Hungary, [the FIA delegates]... called us up and they said 'we think that the tyres look to be used with a tread width wider than 270mm'... We did not check [the tyres], all of them, carefully - but the FIA did."

The article suggests Ferrari could use these measurements as evidence should they elect to protest the Hungarian Grand Prix result retroactively, however Dupasquier now clarifies that these measurements would not be accepted by Michelin as official.

"[FIA delegate] Charlie [Whiting] made his inspection in a friendly way, not officially," Dupasquier explained. "The tyres were not measured as part of the post-race scrutineering and in a professional way.

"Measuring the tread width after use requires some tools to do that - tools that apply the tyre vertically and point to a print within the ground to measure it. The FIA doesn't have such tools yet."

Dupasquier reiterated that he was "only informed by Charlie - we did not check [the tread width after Hungary] ourselves, and we cannot confirm his findings ourselves."