Michelin: No Plans to Test Indy Tyre

With testing due to resume at Jerez in Spain tomorrow, Michelin's director of F1 activities Nick Shorrock believes it is important that the French tyre manufacturer does not get diverted from its efforts to win the World Championship despite the events of the United States Grand Prix.

When asked by Gazzetta dello Sport about whether the company plans to conduct any extra testing in Europe to try and find an answer as to what caused the Indianapolis problems, Shorrock said: "No, because the truth is that we are constantly testing.

"We won't be racing at Indianapolis next week. Between this GP and the next there are scheduled test sessions, and we'll go testing already this week.

"The important thing now is to look ahead and to prepare the next races in the best way, starting from Magny-Cours for which the tyres have already been decided."

Despite the testing plans, investigations on the Indianapolis problems will continue in Michelin's factory.

Shorrock admitted that there were still no answers as to the cause of the Michelin tyre problems, although he believed the resurfacing of the Indy circuit allied to the fact that teams cannot test at the venue prior to the race were contributing factors.

"When we got to Indianapolis we became aware of a re-paving of the surface, made with diamond grinding which scratched the tarmac," he said. "Maybe this had some consequences on the behaviour of our tyres. Same for the banking. With the impossibility to test in advance at Indy, the problems emerged in the first practice sessions.

"High strain occurred on the tyres at the exit of turns 12 and 13. That's why we proposed to erect a chicane to slow the cars down."