Apparently, some of the teams don't quite have their contracts with Bridgestone in place yet and have therefore been asking Michelin if there are still tyres available for winter testing.

I can't imagine why they would want to use these tyres, because it is just putting them further behind the other teams. Surely the way forward is to get the contract sorted out sooner rather than later.

Michelin are quite happy about the deals though, saying that they are more then willing to supply any teams that require tyres for winter testing. They are moving on though, as Nick Shorrock, Michelin's F1 director, has said:

If we were to do it, we would do it from the stock of tyres available. But over and above that, it is the people we would need to have available to go and supervise the use of competitive tyres.

- Nick Shorrock