Michelin: Resurfaced Monza less tough on tyres.

Michelin boss, Nick Shorrock has revealed that they have had to re-fine their tyres for this weekend's Italian Grand Prix, after the track was resurfaced earlier this year.

Speaking in the countdown to the 15th round in the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship at Monza, a circuit which has staged more F1 world championship races than any other track, Shorrock added that the test programme last week was very busy as a result of these alterations.

"After an intense race in Turkey, the F1 championship moves to the classical F1 venue of Monza and one of the oldest circuits after Brooklands and Indianapolis," said Shorrock. "Monza is a track combining speed and skill along very long straights and some demanding corners. The long straights at Monza require a minimum of downforce to allow the cars to achieve maximum speeds in excess of 350 KPH on four or five occasions each lap. There are however some challenging bends and in particular the two LESMO bends.

"In addition, almost half the track has been resurfaced this year including the two LESMO bends. This change impacted the test session last week when we needed to change our reference tyres because the track was significantly less severe on the tyres.

"The test week at Monza was a very heavy programme after several weeks of no testing. During the week, as well as doing the normal tyre choices for the Monza GP, we have been pursuing our overall tyre development package with our partners. We have been looking at tyre compounds, tyre constructions and examining ways that teams can develop greater performance from the overall car/tyre package. In addition to the tyre testing work, our partners were also very busy testing their latest developments of chassis, aero and engine.

"With both World Championships still wide open, the objective of such tests is to be able to tune the car package to be as effective as possible and to try to gain vital tenths or even hundredths of a second. The work we do for tyres contributes to these gains but clearly our partners are equally keen to demonstrate their ability to improve the basic car performance. This is true for all our teams who are keen to contribute more points to their current tally."

Scuderia Toro Rosso sporting director, Franz Tost meanwhile added that the event is a particularly challenging one for tyres: "Monza is one of the most demanding tracks when it comes to making the correct tyre choice, because its blend of extremely quick corners and slow chicanes requires a degree of compromise in terms of constructions and compounds," he added.

"Cars flirt with 350kph (217mph) at the end of the straights, yet two seconds later they brake to just 120 (75). That puts a 5g load through the tyre's sidewall. The tyres are subjected to high lateral loads, too - about 4g through Turn Three and, obviously, the Parabolica. Softer compounds are an asset in terms of braking and acceleration, but you daren't risk too soft a tyre because the high cornering speeds through the Parabolica and two Lesmos provokes a risk of blistering. That's why Monza is as challenging for the tyre engineers as it is for the drivers."