Michael Schumacher believes that the relative advances in tyre technology, between Michelin and Bridgestone, will decide the world championship, after a disappointing showing at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The world champion is driving what is generally held to be the best car currently out there, and yet he finished third to the Michelin-shod cars of Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen, with team-mate Rubens Barrichello way back in eighth!

“In Austria we were very strong tyre-wise,“ he said, “in Monaco it was the opposite. It's just a question of who's got the better tyre for a certain kind of circuit.

“Tyres decide the outcome of races and that will ultimately decide the outcome of the championship.“

McLaren ace, David Coulthard, has always agreed with Michael Schumacher's views on the subject.“I took heart from Barcelona,“ said the Scot, “it was Michelin there and then in Austria it swung to Bridgestone and Ferrari suddenly looked very strong. That is the championship we are in.

“It is going to go backwards and forwards and so Ferrari does not have the dominant package that is going to blow us into the weeds every weekend.“

Schumacher is not overly concerned nor critical about Bridgestone and denies that its relationship with Ferrari is under stress after last weekend's performance. “One of the nice things about Bridgestone is that you do not need to worry in such a situation. All the guys are 100 percent motivated to have the upper hand on the competition, but it's going to take a lot of hard work.“