Formula 1

[atomicscissors]

6 cars?! Ouch.

[atomicscissors]

FIA summons seven Michelin teams

Michelin teams have been ordered to explain their part in the US Grand Prix tyre fiasco at a hearing of Formula One's ruling body later this month.

The hearing is set to take place in Paris on 29 June, the FIA said in a statement on Monday.

All seven teams using Michelin tyres withdrew from Sunday's race after the company admitted problems with them.

Their request for the installation of temporary chicane to reduce speeds was rejected by the FIA.

The six cars which started the race were all on Bridgestone tyres, including eventual winner and Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher.

Team boss Frank Williams said the Michelin teams were willing to race for no points as long as a chicane was added on to the circuit.

"We would have done anything to race," the Williams boss told BBC Radio Five Live on Monday.

"The Michelin teams offered to race on a modified circuit with a chicane on the 'offending corner'.

"We would have been happy to score no points and start at the back of the grid behind the Bridgestone cars."

Earlier, Michelin officials have vowed to remain in F1 despite the controversy in Indianapolis caused by safety concerns over their tyres.

"We are convinced our decision was a professional one in line with our policy of 100% safety," Michelin said.

"I really don't believe this will affect our F1 future," deputy race director Frederic Henry-Biabaud said.

The problems in Indianapolis came to a head when two Toyotas crashed in free practice on Friday, thought to be as a result of tyre failure.

Michelin checked all their tyres and conducted similar tests in France, concluding that there could be no guarantees of safety.

"The investigations are not over yet," Henry-Biabaud continued.

"We are aware that there is a problem but we have not yet precisely identified it.

"It is too early to say what consequences this will have but our partners were very supportive and we are confident our decision will have been understood."

Henry-Biabaud said Michelin had no option but to withdraw.

"Michelin would have been to blame if it had raced. Can you imagine what would have happened if, having seen the failure on Friday, we had decided to race the tyre and we had a problem," he told Europe 1 radio station.

"I prefer, as a company, we find ourselves in this position rather than if there had been an accident."

He blamed the specifics of the Indianapolis track and he hit out at motor racing's governing body, the FIA, for failing to agree to a compromise.

"We proposed realistic, feasible alternatives," he added.

Story from BBC SPORT

[Jook Sing Vegas]

The greatest way to alienate the already languishing fan base is to put on a average performance(excitement) then have 70% of the competitors pull out. If this was NASCAR and 33 of the 40+ cars just droped out Indy would be burnt to the ground like Atlanta. The FIA should have let them put up the chicane and no points awarded to Michelin teams as they agreed to do. Let Michelin bring in the safer tires and move them to the back of the grid. Heck if Jordan didn't agree to run it would have been a 2 car(horse) race or test session for Ferrari. On behalf of Ferrari's point of view to deny the addition of the chicane is run what ya brung if you cant compete fuck y'all.

[charlos3000]

Originally posted by atomicscissors
[B]FIA summons seven Michelin teams

And now begins the FIA witchunt. the FIA is fully aware of the fallout from this debacle--however, watch the FIA shift all blame for the farce that took place at IMS on michelin. Michelin deserves a healthy dose, but were it not for the knuckleheads over at the FIA, there very well could have been a race--even if it were an exhibition.

Instead, the FIA and the FIA's darlings decided that they'd rather screw themselves and the sport as a whole for the sake of personal gain and/or cock swinging, and look what we got instead.

michelin will see some stars after the FIA comes up with some arbitrary punishment or comes to some ridiculous conclusion. Michelin teams will be bullied in the backroom and in public by the thugs over at FIA, and in the end we'll have enough division to justify the creation of the GPWC, and thereby end the solidarity and effectively end the success of the only open wheel road racing series that matters.

good work, all. way to go. now i have to watch toothless rednecks oval race all the time, and get berated by their even less challenged slackjawed fans for not agreeing that "rubbn is rasen"

[Jook Sing Vegas]

Formula Umm... Laughing stock of the sporting world this week.

http://www.flakmag.com/sports/cook050620.html

Kick Out the Sports!
by Bob Cook

Bob Cook's weekly ruminations on sports appear Mondays in Flak.

Imagine if, the morning of the Super Bowl, players declared the stadium surface too dangerous to play on, having witnessed during practice injuries caused by rips in the artificial turf. Imagine if, having the NFL brush off their concerns, all but six players walked off the field at kickoff. And imagine if, with only six players on the field, the Super Bowl was played anyway.

That's pretty much what happened at Sunday's US Grand Prix. Maybe it's not the Super Bowl of Formula One Racing, but the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is certainly extremely important for a circuit that has tried and failed for more than 50 years to gain a foothold in the United States. (Generally, a lack of American drivers is blamed for US indifference.) In fact, the race was such a debacle it brought up questions not only about the future of Formula One in the United States, but the future of the circuit in general. It's certainly going to make the next business school case study of how not to win over an audience.

[Ryan]

explain themselves?? wtf how about we dont wanna die!

we are forever doomed to nascar now.

[atomicscissors]

Originally posted by charlos3000

And now begins the FIA witchunt. the FIA is fully aware of the fallout from this debacle--however, watch the FIA shift all blame for the farce that took place at IMS on michelin. Michelin deserves a healthy dose, but were it not for the knuckleheads over at the FIA, there very well could have been a race--even if it were an exhibition.

Yeah, I agree. The FIA is gonna blame everyone but themselves. What they fuck were they thinking? At the very least you'd think, the majority of the league being Europeans and all, they'd race just not to look stupid in front of all those Americans.

As hard-up as they are of breaking into the US, you'd think they'd give the fans some semblance of a race.

You get a big 'BOO', bitches.

[charlos3000]

man the more i read about this fiasco, the less i know.

there's alot of angles on this whole situation though, i guess who's the bad guy depends on who your favorite team is.

bah, screw indy, come to long beach!

[Steven P]

I ain't giving up on F1, screw that. It's too damn exciting to watch.

I was rather dissapointed with the Indy race though. Throughout the practice sessions and qualifying rounds it looked as though the track was running really fast which, I thought, would have made for a good race. Oh well.

[atomicscissors]

Originally posted by Steven P
I ain't giving up on F1, screw that. It's too damn exciting to watch.

I was rather dissapointed with the Indy race though. Throughout the practice sessions and qualifying rounds it looked as though the track was running really fast which, I thought, would have made for a good race. Oh well.

Yeah, I ain't giving up on F1 either. I'm just really really disappointed.

[atomicscissors]

Veteran British driver David Coulthard - long a beacon of sense in a sport flooded with people with an over-inflated sense of their own importance - cut to the heart of the issue.

"I have no words to describe how damaging this is for F1. I am sick in the stomach to be part of this," the Scot told BBC Radio Five Live after seven of the 10 teams pulled out of the race because Michelin could not guarantee the safety of its tyres.

"That mature adults were not able to put on a show for everybody is very sad."

[atomicscissors]

Fuckin' A

[bones2380]

Trade your F1 tix for a real race

Go see Champ CAr to get your right turn fix

[charlos3000]

hehe and be the only ones in the stands...

CART is dead and dying. sadly, it should be the IRL instead.

[charlos3000]

Long but very informative:

Paul Stoddart comments on the US Grand Prix
A personal account of US Grand Prix events


[22/06/05 - 13:17]

Paul Stoddart faces the media at Indianapolis

What follows is a press release from the MinardiF1 team giving the views
of Paul Stoddart.

"Much has been said about the farce that occurred on Sunday, June 19, in Indianapolis, and I feel that in the interests of transparency, it would
be worthwhile for someone who was actually present, and participated in the discussions leading up to the start of the Grand Prix, to provide a truthful account of what took place, both for the 100,000-plus fans who were present, and for the hundreds of millions of people watching on television around the world.

While this is a genuine attempt to provide a factual timeline of the relevant events that took place, should any minor detail or sequence be
disputed, it will not, in my opinion, affect in any way this account of events that led up to arguably the most damaging spectacle in the recent
history of Formula One.

Background

For those who have not followed the recent political developments in Formula One, it is fair to say that, for over a year now, the majority
of teams have felt at odds with the actions of the FIA and its President, Max Mosley, concerning the regulations, and the way in which those regulations have been introduced, or are proposed to be introduced. Not a weekend has gone by where some, or all, of the teams are not discussing or disputing these regulations. This is so much the
case that it is common knowledge the manufacturers have proposed their own series commencing January 1, 2008, and this is supported by at least two of the independent teams. The general perception is that, in many instances, these issues have become personal, and it is my opinion that was a serious contributory factor to the failure to find a solution that would have allowed all 20 cars to compete in Sunday's United States Grand Prix.

The Facts

Friday, June 17
I noticed that Ricardo Zonta's Toyota had stopped, but in all honesty, did not pay any attention to the reasons why; however, I actually
witnessed Ralf Schumacher's accident, both on the monitors, and more significantly, I could see what took place from my position on the pit
wall. This necessitated a red flag, and in the numerous replays on the monitors, it looked very much like the cause of the accident was a
punctured rear tyre.

Throughout the afternoon, numerous people in the paddock suggested it was a tyre failure and commented that it was similar to the serious
accident which befell Ralf Schumacher during the 2004 US Grand Prix. Later that evening was the first time I was aware of a potential problem
with the Michelin tyres at this event. In all honesty, I didn't pay a great deal of attention, as our team is on Bridgestone tyres.

Saturday, June 18
On arriving at the circuit, the word throughout the paddock was that there was a potential problem with the rear tyres supplied to all
Michelin teams for this event, and it became evident as the first and second sessions were run that most of the affected teams were being very
conservative with the amount of on-track running they were doing. In addition, Toyota announced that it had substituted Ricardo Zonta for
Ralf Schumacher, who would take no further part in the event. Speculation was rife in the paddock that some Michelin teams might not take part in qualifying. Also, during the practice session, I was informed there would be a Team Principals' meeting with Bernie Ecclestone at 1430 hrs after qualifying, which I incorrectly assumed would centre around the Michelin issue.

Qualifying took place, and indeed, all 20 cars qualified for Sunday's Grand Prix. At approximately 1420 hrs, I attended Bernie's office, and with representatives present from all other teams, including Ferrari, the meeting commenced. Surprisingly, the main topic of conversation was the number of events and calendar for 2006, followed by a suggestion that a
meeting be convened at the next Grand Prix to discuss two issues only - firstly, a proposal for a single-tyre supplier in Formula One, and
secondly, whether or not it would be desirable to qualify with or without a race fuel load in 2006. Only at the very end of the meeting did the Michelin tyre issue arise, and in fairness, it was not discussed in any great detail. I personally found this strange, but as I have
stated, it did not affect Minardi directly, and therefore I had no reason to pursue the matter.

Throughout Saturday evening, there was considerable speculation in the paddock that the tyre issue was much more serious than at first thought, and people were talking about a fresh shipment of tyres being flown overnight from France, and what penalty the Michelin teams would take should those tyres be used. By the time I left the paddock, people were taking bets on Minardi and Jordan scoring points!

Later that evening, I checked with our Sporting Director on what developments had occurred, and was told that the issue was indeed very serious, and the possibility existed that the Michelin teams would not take part in the race.

Sunday, June 19
I arrived at the circuit at 0815 hrs, only to find the paddock was buzzing with stories suggesting the Michelin teams would be unable to
take part in the Grand Prix. I was then handed a copy of correspondence between Michelin, the FIA, and the Michelin teams that revealed the true
extent of the problem. By now, journalists were asking if Minardi would agree to a variation of the regulations to allow the Michelin teams to
compete, and what penalties I felt would be appropriate.

A planned Minardi press briefing took place at 0930 hrs, and as it was ending, I was summoned to an urgent meeting, along with Jordan, with
Bernie Ecclestone, the two most senior Michelin representatives present at the circuit, IMS President Tony George, Team Principals, and
technical representatives from the Michelin teams. At this meeting, Michelin, to its credit, admitted that the tyres available were unable
to complete a race distance around the Indianapolis circuit without a change to the track configuration, so as to reduce the speed coming out of the last turn onto the banking. Much background information was provided as to the enormous efforts that Michelin, with support from its teams, had undertaken in the preceding 48 hours to try and resolve the problem, but it was clear that all those efforts had failed to produce a suitable solution that wouldn't involve support from the non-Michelin teams, and ultimately, the FIA.