Pirelli, asphalt!

[chunder]

Is it just me or does everyone else not think that Pirelli should at least be able to do something about the Michelin guys oin asphalt by now.
I mean it must be years now that Michelin have had a complete advantage in reasonably equal cars on asphalt.
How can Pirelli basically screw their drivers chances up by being utterly uselss unless it is raining. I find it hard to believe that a company with their experience just keeps on failing to deliver on a surface.
And the thing is, the drivers just seem to expect it, they know nothing can be done, it just seems crass to me!

[BertMk2]

It's certainly strange, normally you see these sort of things go in cycles with one manufacturer holding the upper hand for a brief period of time before another climbs to the top of the pile. Pirelli has had fewer teams to provide testing feedback but this year Peugeot switched to Pirelli and should have been able to provide useful comparison data as they ran Michelins last year. Is it possible that Michelin are making use of data from their F1 program in some way?

The Pirelli shod teams always head into tarmac events expecting to struggle - that's not a good sign, it's bizarre they've never managed to close the gap. Is it related to budget? How much do the two tyre companies commit to R&D?