Brawn annoyed by tyre allegations

Team technical director Ross Brawn is annoyed about the allegations that Ferrari is tampering with its tyres to gain an advantage. Recently the rumour mill has suggested that the Bridgestones are being treated with chemicals to make the tyres grip better, which is illegal. Brawn, unsurprisingly, is fed up with the rumours.

Ross Brawn.

Photo by Brousseau Photo.

"I don't know where these stories come from because Michelin say we are not doing it, we say we're not doing it, and we're the people who should know, and the FIA are also saying we're not doing it," he said.

"Why would we want to do it? We've got a fantastic car with great tyres, the best driver, so we are not going to mess around with stuff like that. You could not do it discreetly and we wouldn't do it anyway because it's illegal."

Brawn pointed out that there was always something that would be used as an excuse to start rumours. "It used to be traction control," he added. "That was the big unprovable that a car going quickest had traction control, but that myth was exploded and now the new one is special tyres."

The Englishman believes that the allegations stem from people being frustrated by Ferrari's dominance this season, as it's easier for them to say anther team is doing something illegal than explain their own shortcomings.

"People always want to look for an easy reason…to cover their own backsides," he commented. "It's an easy thing to say 'we're not winning because they are doing something they shouldn't be doing'. It's a very easy excuse to make. It is frustrating, but unfortunately that's the nature of Formula One."

Tyre rivals Michelin are baffled by the allegations: "It's not possible. It doesn't make any sense," said motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier. "I know the people at Ferrari and in their situation to even think about doing something like that is ridiculous. These rumours always exist, but it doesn't make sense to me at all. It's certainly not us putting these rumours about."