F1 Wtf?????

[Elie]

So F1 in Indy ended up with 6 cars, but whats pathetic here is that the crowd were tossing water bottles and debres onto the track!!!

That is the ultimate in unprofessionalism!!

I know it's a saftey decision by Michelin because their tires weren't meant for the track, and I can understand that people paid so much money to see an all out race, but the fans should not act like they did!! Any one of the drivers could get seriously injured and for what????

Chill out people!!!

OK rant mode off!

[Guru]

[Dr Mordrid]

Maybe the fans were ticked off because they felt a bait and switch had been pulled on them. The fans spent hard earned $$ on their tickets in the supposition that they'd see a race and not a bunch of elitist crybabies throwing a tantrum.

All this because the teams using Michelin tires thought the track as it had been laid out for weeks might be to tough for their tires. Poor babies.

Instead they decided to whine, cry and finally take their toys home instead of trying to prove they had the kahones of a real road racer.

Pffftttt....

Dr. Mordrid

[Elie]

Believe me...I am ticked at this whole fiasco, and maybe I will boycott Michelin for acouple of years for making a decision like this.
They could've installed that shukain (if that's how it's spelt) and made the race slower or safer...ahhhh pffft!

[Dr Mordrid]

It's called a chicane and if they needed one to be "safe" when other tires don't it just shows they don't belong in the series. Let 'em go home and cry in their champaign

Dr. Mordrid

[LvR]

If you cant take the heat get out of the kitchen!

[magog]

It's sad for the people who spent their money but safety for the drivers has to be in the first place. We know there can be deadly accidents in every race but when you know there is a problem with the tire (but don't know exactly why) you can't start the race.
The decision is ok for me.

Michelin tires have always been very good in the past, but this time they blew it. I don't know how they could miss this problem.
Bridgestone had problems in the past but now they catched up and this time were definately better prepared for the track.

[RichL]

All this because the teams using Michelin tires thought the track as it had been laid out for weeks might be to tough for their tires. Poor babies.

Bridgestone, owner/partner of Firestone who supply tyres for the Indycars, had feedback about increased wear/heat/grip from the crosshatching done on some of the bends from previous Indy races. Michelin didn't.
Even with the Ferarri's running at three quarter speed every time they pitted someone came out and took a real close look at the rear left tyre.

Instead they decided to whine, cry and finally take their toys home instead of trying to prove they had the kahones of a real road racer.

Pffftttt....

Dr. Mordrid

Hell yeah! If someone's tyre blows at 220mph and slams their car into a solid concrete wall spraying ballistic debris all over the track, the other cars, the spectators, whats a good few deaths and serious injuries in the grand scheme of things?
Anyone would think you'd never seen the results of a 200mph+ crash into a solid wall, 'Doc'.


Michelin offered to fly in a different batch of tyres. FIA refused.
Michelin said "If you take that corner at racing speed, there's a good chance the tyres will go bang (like 11 of them did in practice to a greater or lesser degree)." FIA said "So? Driver slower through that turn."
The teams (9 of the 10 including two teams running Bridgestone tyres) said "If we slow into that turn, we'll come out and be 50-100mph slower up the straights when the guys with Bridgestones come hurtling up behind us. That's rather dangerous." FIA said "So?"
9/10 Teams, Michelin said "Okay, put in a chicane just before that turn, everyone has to slow down, tyres are safe, no danger of catching a Ferarri in the bum at 100mph."
FIA, Ferarri said "No way."
Teams said. "We'll start from the pits while the Bridgestone runners use their grid positions, we'll take a penalty, whatever, just put in a chicane so we can race without killing anyone." FIA, Ferarri say "Nope."
Michelin send a letter to all their teams saying "Do not race on these tyres with the track as it is."
Teams say "That doesnt leave us much choice really."

So, the end result is that 70% of the teams retired rather than take an undue risk. All the FIA had to do was put in a chicane (30 minutes with a set of traffic cones) and you'd have had a race. They didnt, you got a farce.

If it had been one or two teams with bad tyres, tough break to them. When its 7 of the 10 teams refusing to go then the FIA has a duty to put on a show, and a certain amount of compromise should have been reached, like the chicane. Ferarri veto'd it, FIA stood by Ferarri.

[M|x]

I am watching the race now(its a replay, im overseas), but i think twelve cars have to start for the race to count. if the bridgestone teams get their points, i will cry. well, i just dont like ferrari :P

[MultimediaMan]

Michelin has a poor excuse. If they provided a defective product for this race (and they admited they did) The teams should have to be hoist on their own petard because of using such substandard equipment. Hell the other teams could have raced for points, but nooooooo.

Safety is not really the issue: they know the tyres were not safe for this track, yet Michelin did nothing about it except call for a hail mary (which everybody knew was against the rules) at the last moment.

Why? I be those "new tyres" are vaporware. Because they KNEW they couldn't deliver.

No Michelins for my automobiles (and my Van will be needing tyres) this year.

[KvHagedorn]

Wow. This is a black eye for F1 and Michelin both here in the states.

1) The organizers should not have picked Indy as the venue if F1 tires couldn't handle the speed.

2) Michelin should have been damned sure of their formula and built a tire to suit this track.

This will hurt F1's already dangerously elitist image here, and Michelin will lose sales, though not as many as if F1 was a truly popular event in the U.S.

[Dr Mordrid]

Wow. This is a black eye for F1 and Michelin both here in the states.

1) The organizers should not have picked Indy as the venue if F1 tires couldn't handle the speed.

Then also thank GOD they didn't pick Michigan International Speedway and decide to run the tri-oval

While MIS is 1/2 mile shorter than Indy (2 miles vs. 2.5 miles) the Indy cars run significantly faster there due to the tri-ovals banked & curved back "straight"; basically it's foot-to-the-floor for > half the track.

Poor F1 babies might not have made it out of the pits without scorch marks

EDIT: news story re the USGP fiasco....

Angry fans stream out of US Grand Prix in wake of Michelin tire fiasco

Sun Jun 19 2005 19:57:05 ET

US motor racing fans weren't waiting around to see which Ferrari came out on top in the US Grand Prix Sunday after a failure to sort out concerns over the safety of Michelin tires saw only six cars start the race.

Andy Stevens and Keith Murphy, who had spent several hundred dollars apiece to come to the race from Iowa, were heading for the exit of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the race was half over with "f*ck-you Michelin" scribbled on their T-shirts.

"We don't even know what's happening, we just know we're mad at Michelin," Stevens said.

Both men were aware of the tire safety concerns raised earlier in the week when Ralf Schumacher crashed in practice after a Michelin tyre failure.

But they were mystified Sunday as all 20 qualified cars lined up on the starting grid, before the 14 cars on Michelin tires pulled into the pits after the warm-up lap.

"They didn't tell what was happening over the loudspeakers," Murphy said. "There was the warm-up lap, and then all of a sudden there were only six cars.

"We didn't come here to see a Ferrari practice. We came across the country to see the race."

Phyllis Carmack travelled from Louisiana for the race, but she too had seen enough by the halfway stage.

"From my understanding, Bernie Ecclestone has been trying to bring Formula One to the United States," she said. "This isn't going to help.

"They knew this was coming the past couple of days," Carmack added. "I feel they should have done something about it before the start of the race. I am so disappointed."

Whoever is doing the PR for Michelin and the USGP must be downing Maalox by the gallon.

Dr. Mordrid

[Elie]

Yeah I agree, I don't think F1 in itself will take the hit as much as Michelin will.

I will not buy Michelin tires period!

[Jon P. Inghram]

Hmm... if the track was sooooooo dangerous, why didn't everyone in the Indy 500 get killed in horrible wrecks?

[KvHagedorn]

What's weird is that I swear by Michelins. They are by far the tires I have had the best luck with. If they get a bad rap from this, it's probably not deserved.