No way to promote F1 in the U.S.
A six car race at the U.S. Grand Prix does not win fans over, especially when spectators were fleeing for the exits after 10 laps and demanding their money back. The 14 teams that were on Michelin tires boycotted the race after the tire manufacturer informed the teams that the tires were not safe in the final banked corner of IMS. Teams asked the FIA to either change tires or to place a chicane in the final turn. When the requests were refused, 14 teams parked their cars leaving only 6 drivers riding on Bridgestone tires. At least Schumey got the win, but the amount of damage that F1 has done to the sport in the U.S. (and all around the word) is going to be hard to repair.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sid Ghosh 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
- Not in ANY way Ferrari/Bridgestone's fault. No one was giving a damn when Bridgestone runners were pulling out due to tire issues in earlier races.
- Michelin's fault 100%. No secondary tires and you'd think they would have a standby.
- The chicane was a stupid idea. Why should Ferarri/Minardi/Jordan agree to that?
- This is a rare event and fans have to be more understanding.
Frankly, this is a good thing. FIA kept changing rules every 3hrs and this was bound to happen anyway.
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Motorin' 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
The post I've been waiting for since yesterday.
It was definitely a nice piece of drama that was surreal to behold. The only reason it was so amazing of a spectacle was because so many of the teams run on Michelins. When Bridgestone's tires were having problems, no concessions were made. If it were reversed, Bridgestone probably wouldn't have gotten the concessions at all.
It would have been unfair to penalize the Bridgestone runners, but there probably could have been some concessions made so that all cars could race while keeping the Michelin runners at a disadvantage. The entire affair was purely Michelin's fault, but the FIA should have been able to come up with something just for the severity of the problem for fans. Perhaps adding the chicane, but denying all Michelin runners any points.
The funniest piece of irony for me was that yesterday morning (before the race) I was lamenting the crapiness of Bridgestone's tires next to Michelin (who has cleaned up victories in almost every motorsport). Then Michelin drops the ball big time at Indy. Amazing. It will be interesting to see the full fallout of this situation.
At least Ferrari finally finished one, two and Schumacher is kind of back in the championship hunt. So some good came out if it all (yes, I'm a Ferrari fan).
Too bad that about as predictable as the sun rising, people started throwing stuff on the track. Hulk so mad, Hulk smash and throw things.
Also, it was pretty incredible that Ralph ended up hitting the same wall again this year in almost the same way. The US GP was just a bizarre event, start to finish.
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Rahul 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
please doublecheck your facts. Its 7 teams with 14 cars-In F1 all teams run 2 cars with identical liveries
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p.bubel 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
I've driven to the Indy race twice from Texas. Thank God I didn't go this year, because if I had, I doubt I would be very "understanding" on the twenty hour drive home.
F1 screwed up badly and they'll have the poor fan turnout at the race next year to show for it.
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Bob A Booie 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
A good thing?
F1 has been more difficult to watch. Speed usually airs races the Friday following Sunday's action. Rule changes are so common it seems that old bernie is simply out of his mind. The idea that some manufactures are so sick of it they want to pull out and start a different series.
I've been watching more and more MotoGP. Although not without its own scandals and rule chagnes, the action is definately on the track.
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Brad 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
Just to clarify, Michelin did not have acceptable tires to change to at the track. The tires shipped overnight Saturday were also not safe to race. I wouldnt consider the Michelin teams boycotting the race. They simply did not have safe tires to race as the speeds required for turn 13. The only viable safe solution to hold a race Sunday with all the teams would have been to add a chicane.
Whoever was to blame, whether it is Michelin for making a mistake, the FIA for not compromising for the sake of the sport, or the Brimstone teams for not having solidarity with the rest of the F1 competing teams, Formula 1's reputation in U.S. (at a minimum and possibly all around the world) has been very badly damaged. This might not be revisable.
I think yesterdays fiasco will be the straw that broke the camels back and the new proposed GPWC racing series is almost a foregone conclusion.
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rob rudorf 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
Peter Windsor on Wind Tunnel last night said Michelin chose to do little testing at Indy before the race. He did not offer an explanation as too why. Michelin is entirely at fault in my mind. Why should the FIA change the track because the teams would not have been competitive? Minardi is not competitive so let's cahnge the rules in just their favor. I hope the USGP can survive!
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Motorin' 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
Michelin's replacements were no good either. Michelin just didn't have a usable tire for the US GP.
I'm not sure the GPWC has a strong case with this particular incident because the root cause was Michelin's (huge) mistake, not the FIA's. The manufactures could probably spin it that way anyway, but it was a Michelin problem. If the GPWC series had multiple tire manufacturers and this happened, they would have also been in a sticky situation of scrambling to come up with something.
Oddly enough (on the subject of rules changes, the FIA probably could/should have bent/manufactured some rules just for this event, but that's a complete counter to the argument that the FIA changes rules so often. The US GP was a big mess.
It will be interesting to see if this drives forward the proposed single tire mfr rule. I still think the one set of tires per race change was a pretty ridiculous move.
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nick 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
so seats and accomidations should be a little bit cheaper next year. i'm going... who's with me!
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OlivierB 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
What are you talking about number 2 and 6?
Rules go like this: You must use teh same tire for qualifcations and race.
Fact: Ralf SChumacher had a tire failure and crashed at 200 mph.
Michelin was not sure what the problem was and suggested shipping overnight new tyres for all of the Michelin equipped cars. FIA refused saying that the tyres cannot be changed before the race (see rule above).
THe teams than suggested a chicane to reduce speed and thus limit crash severity in case of tyre failure.
FIA refused again, so in the name of safety all Michelin teams decided to call quits.
These are the FACTS. Have a read on Reuters or type Michelin in google news and read for yourself.
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Bob 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
The only good thing to come out of that is now we know for sure the manufacturers will dump the FIA and its dubious rules and politics to start their GPWC, without Ferrari. Ferrari can go lap around Fiorano all they want in 2008.
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Ron 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
One group says Michelin is at fault, other say FIA was inflexable. Who cares, it doesn't matter who was a fault. What matters is that the every day Joe, who spent a lot of money to come to the race. They got robbed. The teams own it to the fans to make a race happen regardess of rules. Otherwise they will have there race without an audience and the money will soon dry up. F1 seems to forget who acutally pays the bills.
Go to an ALMS race to see an organization who cares about their fans.
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Eddie 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
#10...you are right. Maybe Ferrari just got a idea of what F1 without the other teams will look like. Exciting, wasn't it? If nothing else, this does strengthen the GPWC cause.
I wish I was as confident as you regarding it being a sure thing. Keeping my fingers crossed that you are right.
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Sid Ghosh 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
Good luck having a F1 without Ferrari.
And why would non-Ferarri fans want the FIA gone anyway? I mean, the reason for ALLLLL these stupid rule-changes WAS to tie Ferrari's shoelaces.
"Damnit, we can't catch Ferarri so lets just keep messing with the rule book until they suffer'.
It worked. Upto now. Now everyone else got bit in the @** with the rules as well.
Me = Very happy. Good riddance...
Solution - Have ONE tire supplier. We watch F1 to see the car makers. I don't have a Bridgestone poster on my wall.
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Greg Koenig 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
F1 is, as you all well know, an exceedingly technical sport where components are often designed purely for one race on one track during a single season. One need only look at the financial outlay by even the smallest team to recognize this fact. As it stands, when you have engineers competing as fiercely at their CAD terminals as you do drivers on the race track, technical problems like those faced by Michelin are bound to happen. Engineering a race tire to meet the needs of F1 is an impressive technical feat; engineering an F1 tire to last through the course of an entire race weekend is amazing. Given how difficult and eccentric a task providing tires is under such circumstances, I don't know if you can exactly point the blame at Michelin.
Now, the FIA/FOM on the other hand, they have a long record of screwing over fans. I said this on another forum and I'll say it here: Technical problems happen in Formula 1. One of the primary reasons for the FIA/FOM to even exist is to help come up with solutions to these technical problems within the confines of three priorities (listed in order):
- Safety
- Spectators
- Spirit of Competition
Yesterday, Michelin came to the FIA/FOM and admitted to having a major technical problem. They offered numerous solutions to that problem including enforcing a speed limit in Turn 13, installing a chicane, allowing the teams to change tires, penalizing all teams on Michelin tires... All of these solutions boiled down to temporary rule changes that would have allowed the race to go on, the fans (some of who spent thousands of dollars to attend) would have been happy and Formula 1 would not be facing this crisis.
While yesterday was the product of an engineering issue with Michelin, it was yet another example of Max/FIA and Bernie/FOM running Formula 1 ex cathedra, with no pragmatism and no respect for the fans. Not changing the rules for one or two teams; I can understand that, but when the overwhelming majority of your field is taken out of commission and when 9 out of 10 teams agree to a solution (chicane) then it is time to get the show going. Formula 1 cut it's nose off despite it's face- expect to see an exodus of fans and manufacturers away from the Bernie/Max show in favor of their own series... All of which could have been avoided with a simple chicane.
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Bob 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
"The entire affair was purely Michelin's fault, but the FIA should have been able to come up with something just for the severity of the problem for fans. Perhaps adding the chicane, but denying all Michelin runners any points."
It was offered and refused by the FIA. The Bridgestone teams would have started in front even. It would have resulted in the same amount of points for the Bridgestone teams than what they got yesterday.
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senninha 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
Lets face it, F1 got worse and worse after the loss of Ayrton in '94. Passion has been relaced with greed.
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Monty Zoom 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
Lots of blame to go around here. The idiotic rule that you can only have 2 sets of tires is partially to blame. How does any team know what the track conditions are going to be like? How can any team prepare for the unknowable?
Michelin not getting the tires right for this track. They knew the rules, and they gambled and lost. You can't go by majority rules if a majority rides Michelin. The track shouldn't be changed because of Michelin's error. The idea of a chicane is a non-starter. It shouldn't have been discussed. After all, Bridgestone tires were designed for this track as it was. You cannot penalize them for being prepared.
The FIA should have come up with something to keep this farce from happening, but they didn't. They will pay for the incompetence all around...
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BigJoe 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
Michelin was offered the opportunity to change tires during the race. Although it still would have technically put their cars out of the running, they would have been able to put on a "Show". They chose not to.
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Eric Bryant 10:32PM (12/18/2005)
Greg made the comment "they offered numerous solutions to that problem including enforcing a speed limit in Turn 13". For some reason, the absurdity of establishing a speed limit in what's supposedly the highest form of motorsport is really amusing, in a dark sort of way.
Regardless of who's at fault, the damage to F1 has been done. Whether it's something relatively simple like the introduction of a single tire manufacturer or more drastic measures like forming an alternative sactioning body, something has to be done with the sport.
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