Michelin vow to match Bridgestone intermediate.

Michelin motorsport boss Pierre Dupasquier has promised that the French tyre manufacturer will be working flat out this winter, to ensure that they aren't thrashed again by the Bridgestone intermediates.

The Michelin runners all suffered Sunday at the US Grand Prix, and while in slightly wet conditions they had the upper hand, as soon as the track was sufficiently wet for Ferrari and co to use their Bridgestone intermediates, the French tyre manufacturers' partners were simply just to slow.

Dupasquier commented: "The lessons learned [at the US GP] will help us to strengthen our all-round performance and that will be a great source of motivation. Michelin thrives on competition and we have to pick up a few seconds per lap in rain conditions this winter. I assure you we will!"

"Today's race was absolutely fascinating from a technical perspective," added Dupasquier, "We set the early pace and our drivers were the quickest out there when the circuit dried towards the end. In slightly damp conditions our grooved dry weather tyres enabled our leading drivers to run up to three seconds per lap faster than Michael Schumacher.

"In wetter conditions we were losing two seconds per lap on intermediate tyres compared to Michael Schumacher and one second against other competitors. This race has given us lots of useful information."

"Our main goal in Formula One, however, is to provide our five partner teams with an excellent - and equal - technical service," he concluded. "The fact that all of them have been consistently competitive throughout this season proves that we have done just that."