Michelin ready for battle

Alonso's victory came on the back of Juan Pablo Montoya's dominant success in the preceding German Grand Prix last year, but Schumacher cruised to victory in the corresponding race this season. Bridgestone's rubber suffered in the hot European summer last year, but this season has been a different story.

"Last year's Hungarian Grand Prix was a spectacular success for Michelin - but you can never take anything for granted in Formula 1 and we have worked flat-out to make sure we are in even better shape this season," said Dupasquier. "The Budapest track presents a number of interesting challenges. Although it is a permanent facility, it is used less frequently than many grand prix venues. This and the dusty local landscape dictate that it is inevitably very slippery to begin with, although it evolves fairly dramatically as the weekend goes on.

"Even when some rubber has been laid down, however, tyres are still subjected to significant loads because the only straight is relatively short and cars are constantly turning in track temperatures verging on 50-degrees. Whatever the conditions, though, I believe our engineers' endeavours will give Michelin's partners an edge in one of the most demanding European races."