Vasselon wants to stay

Autosport.com exclusively revealed earlier this week that Vasselon was being moved to another part of the French tyre manufacturer's company, focusing on 4x4 tyres in the United States, as part of a major management reshuffle aimed at helping its bid to win the world championship.

But Vasselon, talking to autosport.com during a visit to this week's F1 test in Jerez, has admitted that the decision to switch roles was not his - and that he does not actually want to move to road car work.

"I didn't know anything about it," said Vasselon of the job reshuffle. "It was a top management decision and maybe we didn't win enough.

"I'm not quite sure what is going on, but at the moment I am here (in Jerez) to help people out for the next two weeks.

"But of course I want to stay in motorsport. That is my intention."

News of Vasselon's job change caught many F1 teams by surprise - and sources have claimed that at least two of Michelin's contracted teams are not happy that the company is losing the Frenchman's knowledge and valuable input as the company bids for its first world title since 1984. There are suggestions complaints may be lodged with the tyre company over the move

Vasselon has been Michelin's F1 manager since it re-entered grand prix racing in 2000 - and before that he worked in other motor racing categories for the company since 1994.