Formula One news

Sauber expects more from Michelin next year

The Sauber Petronas team made a surprise switch from Bridgestone to Michelin tyres at the end of last year and while it was expected that Michelin rubber would do them better this season, the team has yet to get fully in tune with the French company's tyres.

"The cooperation with Michelin is extremely productive," notes Sauber technical director Willy Rampf. "Michelin not only make competitive tyres but also practise a very open style of communication from which we profit a great deal. Consequently, it's usually easy for us to make the right choice between the two tyre specifications at a race weekend. Nevertheless, we still have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to making optimum use of the tyres in certain conditions, such as in extreme heat. But that's primarily a question of experience in handling the tyres, and we keep learning at each test and each race."

"The Michelin decision was taken at a time when the development of the C24 had already progressed quite far," he adds. "As a matter of fact, the Michelin tyres require different specifications regarding the suspension geometry or weight distribution. At the moment, we have to live with a compromise situation in this area. Yet I wouldn't want to overrate the whole thing either. However, with regard to the C25, there is room for improvement."

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