• German Grand Prix

Michael confident of no problems after FIA tyre advice

Sam Michael says McLaren complied with all Pirelli guidelines at Silverstone © Sutton Images

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McLaren sporting director Sam Michael says he believes the FIA has taken the right steps but informing the teams which conditions of tyre usage they must comply with.

On Friday morning the FIA released a note to the teams advising them of Pirelli recommendations referring to tyre pressures, cambers and the banning of swapping tyres from side-to-side. The note said the teams will have to 'satisfy the FIA technical delegate that their cars comply' with the requirements and Michael says it's a move that should prove effective.

"It's pretty easy [to police]," Michael said. "The FIA put out a sheet to say 'these are all the parameters that you have to stick to' and the FIA are perfectly entitled to come along - as they can with any technical aspect of the car - and say 'What have you got?' and you show them to show that's what you're doing.

"I think the important thing is that Pirelli know what happened in Silverstone, they're addressing it now and if there were teams that were running outside of their spec then we fully support and encourage Pirelli to ensure teams are running within spec because it's there for a reason. Regardless of what happened at Silverstone, going forward they need to have confidence that if they specify something people run to it."

Michael also said he understood the reasons behind the Grand Prix Drivers' Association threatening to boycott the race if there are repeat failures, but added he didn't envisage the problem arising again.

"The drivers are driving the cars; they're the guys that are driving at 300km/h and having a tyre explode. I can't imagine that's a pleasant thing so I can understand the emotion behind it. I think it's probably slightly delayed; it's the sort of thing I would have expected on Sunday night as a reaction to Sunday, so having seen all the steps that Pirelli and the FIA have been through in the last four days to correct things the timing of it almost removes the punch of it if you like. The chances of it happening are very small but it's the drivers so if that's how they feel then I respect that.

"Whenever the drivers get together like that - they don't do it very often - so you've got to listen to it because they're concerned about it. But ultimately if everything works well then it shouldn't be a problem."

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