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After the Indonesian GP, Honda’s team manager Alberto Puig asked Michelin for answers to what happened during the weekend in Mandalika, after they decided to bring different tires: "We’ll have to have a very in-depth discussion, Piero Taramasso, Michelin’s Motorsports Director replied in an interview: “I’m surprised by Puig's words. I had explained everything to him. That change was made for safety purposes."
The discussion, however, didn’t end there, and Puig attacked again, this time from the pages of Motorsport. What the Spanish manager couldn’t swallow was the fact that Taramasso explained the possible cause of Honda's difficulties in Mandalika as a slow adaptation to the new tires.
"It’s strange that he said that Honda doesn’t know how to adapt," Alberto replied. "Honda has adapted to many technical changes. It’s the longest-running and most successful company in the history of the Grand Prix. Does this mean that we don’t know how to adapt? It's the first time I've heard such a thing.”
In his analysis, Taramasso motivated his opinions with the data collected, but even this didn’t convince Puig.
"From my experience in racing, you have to talk to the riders, not Apple, IBM or Dell,” he said. “You have to listen to the riders and, if you have those who have been world champions several times, you can assume that they know what they’re talking about."
Then the attack got more personal.
"Mr. Taramasso becomes hypersensitive every time someone talks directly about his tires without admitting any error on his part. This, in my opinion, is wrong and too radical. We all make mistakes. He does too," the team manager said.
The next chapter of this story will held in private, or so it seems.
"The only thing I said was that we need to talk with Michelin," Puig continued. “There was a brutal reaction simply because we wanted to find out what had happened. Mr. Taramasso must understand that if any of my riders have a problem or a doubt about something related to our bike, it’s my job, my responsibility as a team manager, to investigate and give solutions to my riders. This is my job. I do it this way, and I'm not going to change."
