Q&A: Pierre Dupasquier.

Michelin Motorsport director - Pierre Dupasquier - talks about being on top in practice; the two compounds the company has brought to Montreal and a lot more:

Q:
Michelin had five cars in the top six today and your partner teams set the two fastest times. How happy are you with the way things have gone so far?

Pierre Dupasquier:
This has been a good day for us - but it is worth repeating that Friday doesn't always offer a true picture of what might follow. The track will change a great deal between now and the race and today teams were sticking rigidly to their own development programmes, with different fuel loads and so on. Several of our partners are in very good shape - and Renault might have been up there too but for technical problems.

The track layout is slightly different this season in Montreal, but so far that hasn't caused us any particular problems. Generally, there is a lot of work to be done here to find the ideal aerodynamic balance, because you need relatively low downforce in order to run quickly on the straights but you daren't go too far because you don't want to compromise braking performance or cornering grip. Here, there is a very fine line between getting your balance right and running too little wing, which tends to make the car slide around too much and overheat its tyres.

Q:
Does this track favour softer or harder tyre compounds?

PD:
Even the harder of the two options we have brought to this race might de described as quite 'soft'. Montreal is a case apart because although harder compounds are traditionally more durable, that isn't necessarily the case here. A stickier tyre might last longer simply because it will be sliding around much less.

Q:
Do your primary (A) and option (B) tyres both seem well suited to Montreal?

PD:
I think we might see both being used in the race, although we haven't made up our minds yet. They are quite similar in terms of compound, less so in terms of construction, but so far there doesn't seem to be much to choose between them in terms of performance. Both are quite different from the tyres we used to win here last season, simply because greater experience has allowed us to evolve our methods considerably.

Q:
You won at Imola in 2001 but failed to repeat that result earlier this season. You are coming here as defending race winner. Any concerns that the tables might be turned again?

PD:
One never knows - but I ought to point out that we made significant performance gains at Imola this year, about eight-tenths of a second per lap. People like to point their finger at tyres when things don't work out as expected, but there is usually a range of contributory factors. From what we have seen I feel very comfortable about our prospects this weekend.