Michelin Warn Success May Take Time

Michelin, returning to Formula One next season for the first time since 1984, do not expect immediate success, the French tyre manufacturer's motorsport head said on Wednesday.

"If we were on slicks we'd be competitive straight away. But on grooves, we have to learn," Michelin competition director Pierre Dupasquier told the British weekly Motoring News.

"It's a new discipline for us 100 percent and, seeing as testing is very limited, that makes the learning curve longer.

"So we don't expect anything good from 2001. We'll be making our first tour of the circuits so, if we do something good this year, it proves either that we are very good or our competitor is very bad."

However, Dupasquier said he expected teams using Michelin tyres to get the better of frontrunners McLaren and Ferrari, who are using Japanese Bridgstone tyres in 2001, at some point in the near future.

"History proves that you never stay at the top forever, so we expect McLaren or Ferrari, or both of them, to screw up. Whether that happens this year or in 2002, we don't know.

"But it will happen and our partners are very determined," he said.

Michelin is supplying Williams, Jaguar, Benetton and Prost in 2001 as well as Toyota in 2002 when they enter the sport.

Since Michelin left Formula One, tyre regulations have changed -- with grooves replacing the smooth slicks -- and new tracks such as Malaysia have been introduced.

Bridgestone have had a monopoly in Formula One for the last two seasons after Goodyear pulled out but Michelin's return has renewed the "tyre war".