Tyre Testing Not Required, Says Dupasquier

Michelin are willing to desist all tyre testing, effective immediately, and have told their partner teams they will not require any designated testing of tyres even during the off-season, Atlas F1 reveals.

Nine of the ten team principals met with Formula One's commercial rights owner Bernie Ecclestone over the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend and signed a cost-saving proposal which stated that "Mr. Ecclestone agreed on behalf of the undersigned teams to progress the matter further with the tyre manufacturers and in particular to seek their assistance to eliminate the majority, if not all requirements for tyre testing."

In an exclusive interview with Atlas F1, published this week, Michelin's head of the competition department Pierre Dupasquier reveals that he had told Ecclestone in response that his company would not require any more tyre testing, effective immediately.

"I wrote to him a paper saying that we, Michelin, as a tyre manufacturer, we will not need any kilometre of specific tyre testing next year, starting with Brazil 2004. I mean it: we don't need tyre testing.

"Let our partners go testing in Barcelona if they want; in Valencia, Jerez or anywhere, and we will be there with tyres. We have agreed to restrict the number of tyre sets per car per testing day - it will be something like two or three sets, whatever - and we will manage with the existing testing kilometres to find our way for our tyres.

"I wrote him this letter and gave it to our partners as well, and I saw that they don't understand it. They cannot imagine that they will not be asked by us to test tyres. But I made it clear to them and said: we don't need tyre testing."

Dupasquier explained that data collected during the running of the cars in any testing would be enough for the French tyre maker to evaluate their needs for tyre development, and he also said Michelin agreed to restrict the number of tyre sets each car can use on a testing day.

"I'm convinced that the kilometres that the teams will do for their own engine, gearbox, chassis, aerodynamics testing - I will be capable...to make enough kilometres on our tyres for the test we need.

"I'm not saying we will not test tyres - I'm saying we don't need specific tests for tyres. With the tests the teams will undertake for their own sake, running on our tyres will be enough for us to find out from the track what we need, and any other test will be done in-house."

Dupasquier admitted, however, that in such a situation, his company would have an advantage over rivals Bridgestone, who are left with only Ferrari as a front running team, while Michelin expect to collect data from five teams at least.

""In such a situation, I will obviously have an advantage over Bridgestone because we have more partners," the Frenchman said. "So I told [Ferrari's team principal] Jean Todt in Brazil that I understand that, I'm not stupid, and I'm personally prepared to give them one or two more tyre sets per car per day, to help Bridgestone a little bit...I agreed to that because I think they are at a disadvantage."

The proposal, however, was stalled by objection from Ferrari's rival teams as well as Ferrari themselves, who refused to support the cost-saving proposal, which includes a testing restriction during the season of 24 days.

The matters of cost saving and testing restriction, as well as a campaign to restrict Formula One to one tyre supplier, are expected to be discussed on December 9th, when the Formula One Commission meets. Dupasquier will attend the meeting, as a representative of both Formula One's tyre companies.

Read the interview with Pierre Dupasquier in this week's Atlas F1 Magazine issue