Michelin have insisted that there will not be a repeat of the severe blistering on their tyres in coming races after
Renault blamed their lack of performance in the German Grand Prix on their decimated rubber.
With Michelin under pressure to come up with answer to Bridgestone's recent surge in form, the company claimed they would be on the pace at Hockenheim, but despite claiming a third place with Kimi Raikkonen, problems for
Toyota and
Williams arguably prevented them from taking the fight to McLaren, Honda and Renault.
Indeed, Michelin claim they need to learn from the weekend in a bid to push forward over the final stages of the year, particularly as rumours that the outgoing firm are not willing put in the time and money into their last few races begin to gather pace,
“Despite the intense hard work that went into preparing for the German Grand Prix, we were caught today by a number of problems that simply weren't apparent during our pre-race test,” director Nick Shorrock said. “We obviously need to look at all the data in detail, but initial analysis indicates that many of our cars suffered tyre-blistering problems at the rear.
“We obviously expected high temperatures, but the products we brought to Hockenheim were perhaps too aggressive and we need to examine ways to prevent this happening again when conditions are similar.
“We have lots of data to analyse – Honda and
Renault ran on the same compound this weekend, for instance, but different constructions – and we will capitalise on the lessons learned today to make sure we select an appropriate range of products for Hungary next weekend, when temperatures are likely to be similarly hot. The world championship fight is becoming ever more intense but we will respond accordingly.”
