OT American GP

Anyone else a F1 watcher? What a fiasco. The bloody idiots at FIA. I'd like to see it almost anywhere but Indy. ...lew...

Reply to
lew hartswick
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Yeah I saw it......too many faults to blame any single entity but the entire shooting match from FIA through the F1 'overlords' (Ecclestone & Moseley), Clerks of the Course and Michelin should all take some flak.

Undoubtedly the tires were 'unsafe' to run but something could and should have been done to put on a race for the fee paying fans instead of a six car 'parade'.

Unfortunately the statement from the FIA about Michelin 'should have known better and brought the correct tires to the race' is garbage as they were allegedly denied access to the track for testing purposes after the resurfacing work was carried out and Bridgestone had all the race data from their sister company to work with after the recent Indy

500 race. Unfair by anyone's standards!

It was just a good job there was all that fencing (metal content) around the course otherwise it might have turned really nasty with disgruntled fans storming the track!

Reply to
Larry Green

I agree Larry and some of the signs the fans were holding up were pretty unfriendly. I wonder what the refund policy will be.

Reply to
J. R. Carroll

The only team with a problem was Toyota, who were running lower pressures and non-approved alignment settings compared to the other teams.

but something could and

Michelin had flown in alternate tires, whose use would have DQ'd any team using them. They could have used those and run the race knowing they would be DQ'd and the result would be the same, and the fans would have a race. Imperfect, but entertaining.

First I've heard of this. But then F1 has some severe restraints on team testing outside of their events, in the interest of cost containment.

The SAFER barriers are new this year, resulting from Ralf Schumacher's crash there last year which put him out for the remainder of the season. Ironically, this year he had the exact same crash in the same spot, but with a much better outcome. Perfect test.

Many of those fans have given up vacation time and thouands of dollars to see a GP race firsthand. They were denied, and they had a right to be livid.

Depends on how much Tony George can get the F1 people to cough up. I bet Tony refunds some or all, and sues F1 for that loss plus future losses.

Reply to
Rex B

Not quite right- turns out there were something like 8 other tires that exhibited similar yet not quite as "dramatic" damage as the 'yota gang

From what I understand about the alternate tires, they were of similar construction to the defective ones, so unless they could pinpoint the problem( which michelin stated they couldn't), the tires would be no better

Reply to
patrick mitchel

They were the same construction and compound as used at Barcelona, so the teams had setup info on hand. And Michelin was willing to stand behind them unlike the tires in question.

Reply to
Rex B

Can you provide a pointer to the statement that michelin was willing to stand behind the tires they were bringing over from barcelona? From what I've read, they seem to be saying the opposite. Pat

Reply to
patrick mitchel

That is what the TV commentators were saying during the race.

Reply to
Rex B

I've read in the news, that Michelin testet new tires in their research center in USA (till Sunday 2 o'clock in the morning) and that those would have been OK, and they were (or would have been) at the track. The problem was a too soft side wall.

Anyhow, F1 is getting worse and worse. I've been watching it for decades, but 'am loosing interest.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

Actually, this season has shown some interesting and close racing, as opposed to the Ferrari domination for the last 6 years.

- - Rex Burkheimer

Nick Müller wrote:

Reply to
Rex B

I'll second that.......nice to see racing (apart from the recent farce) instead of a Ferrari led parade.

Reply to
Larry Green

It's not that I miss the ferrari-victories. I'm happy that there are new faces like Alonso or Ice-Man. But all the rule-changes (one set of tires, modified qualifying (how often did they change it in the last two years?), etc) took the tactics out of racing. And that's kind of boaring for me.

Especialy the tire rules are stupied. How can one know what weather will be 2 days later? Cold? Hot? Also the qualifying: The single "unordered" qualifying gave equal chances to everybody. But now what when it's raining?

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

I haven't been watching F1 over the last couple of years. Does your comment mean that there is actual passing taking place, or just a different order to the parade?

Peter

Reply to
Peter Grey

I think the rule requiring they run on the same set of tires they qualify on adds a lot of interest. I'd be OK with allowing a single tire change after, say 20 laps. I think there is an exception for rains. If it's like other series, the race officials have to declare it a rain race, then it's OK to change to rains. On the other hand, they are running grooved tires already :)

Nobody likes that. It will almost certainly change before the season goes much farther. Of course, the season may be effectively over already! FIA has summed all the Michelin teams to a hearing on June 29, to answer for a list of "Crimes".

Reply to
Rex B

Yes, there is passing, even two-abreast racing through several corners. You should have seen the late-braking banzai passes at the chicane at Monaco. Edge-O-the-seat stuff. Drama, even.

With the tire rules, it's iffy whether the leaders will make it to the checker before the tires give out. Nick Heidfield had the entire field covered a couple races ago, but flat-spotted a tire late in the race, then the suspension failed from the vibration on the final lap.

Rex

Reply to
Rex B

Not to mine. :-)

Shure! But there are races (the Francorchamps race) that are legendary for their crazy weather. Why can't the team decide when it's time to change tires? No, I don't like that modus, but there are other opinions. :-)

Uhh!? What rumors did you hear?

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

By Nikki Reynolds - Motorsport.com

The FIA has made public the list of charges it intends to face the Michelin teams with at a World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on June 29th. After the seven Michelin-shod teams withdrew from the US Grand Prix, citing safety grounds in regard to tyres, the FIA summoned them to appear before a hearing. Extracts of the FIA document reached the press so the governing body decided to publish it.

The charges are being bought under Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, which pertains to acts prejudicial to the interest of competition or motor sport in general. The list of charges the teams -- Renault, Williams, BAR, McLaren, Toyota, Red Bull and Sauber -- have to answer to in breach of Article 151c, in regard to the United States Grand Prix, is as follows:

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Reply to
Rex B

Thanks. In my oppinion, the only one who will have to suffer from this fiasco (in the long run) is the FIA itself. _If_ the teams meet and agree on one tactic: Either no punishment, or we will have a "technical failure" (or something more subtile) every race, the FIA will have to withdraw. There are too many teams involved that the FIA can make any harsh punishment.

By FIA I mean that hole gang who is making big $$$ with the lowest risk of all.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

Well, it's a little more complicated than that. FIA is the rule-making body for F1 and other international motorsports. Their job is implementing and enforcing rules that have been agreed on by the series in question. FOCA works with FIA to establrish and revise rules, then FIA is tasked with ongoing enforcement. In this particular casem they are doing just exactly what they are supposed to do. They gave the Michelein teams 3 or 4 possible alternatives within the rules, but they chose "none of the above". So the teams were involved in the rules-making, agreed to run by them with FIA enforcing those same rules, then they blatantly violated same in the most embarrassing way possible. the big screwup here is Michelin, for not bringing a safe alternate tire as they are required to. they did bring some in at the 11th hour - past the legal time - and made them available. The teams should have run the illegal tires, completed the race and given the fans a show, then taken the DQs post-race. Post-race impound could say "Whoa - look - wrong tires! Tsk tsk! No points for YOU." Alternately, one of FIA's alternatives was "Drive slower". That sounds ludicrous today, but there was a time when one had to drive slow to conserve the car, or you would not finish. In the 1950's a set of brakes would not last the whole race, so drivers could not run 10/10ths the entire distance like they do today. At the turn in question, a

2-second lift at T13 entry might have dropped the loading into safe limits. The Bridgstone'd Ferrari's would've still won, but I bet the fastest teams would still beat the (Bridgestone) backmarkers even so. Worst case would have been the outcome we wound up with, except with a somewhat interesting to race instead of the farce we had.

But the F1 show was already on the virge of organizational failure. Most of the F1 teams had met to discuss starting a new series and leaving the current setup behind, much like happened a cfew decades back. Most are tired of Bernie's high-handedness, but even more they resent the very fat broadcasting income that he controls absolutely.

Reply to
Rex B

It is even more complicated, because there are several standpoints, each being OK (from one perspective :-).

- The spectators want what they paid for. A show! It was really a shame what they got, and I was astonished, that they didn't get more angry.

- On the other hand, why should the teams wear their precious engines, without having a chance to win. They keep the extra revs for the next race.

- The FIA not allowing Michelin to test tires on the (terribly) modified track (You said, that Bridgestone had the necessary information).

- On the other hand, if some teams want a chicane (SP?) why should the FIA give in? Next time, some team wants another exception that helps them, again next time, a team wants to allow only one gear, because their gearbox has broken, etc.

- How can this happen, that the track is so bad? They cut grooves to get grip on the slippery surface! Who's responsible for allowing a race there?

- Michelin not supplying OK tires in the right time (but anyhow, it would have helped only for the show)

- The FIA suggesting to drive slower. This was an _exceptional_ circumstance out of control of Michelin and the teamsw. They do have data of the tracks, but not of Indi _after_ that modification. The stupid rules made it impossible to react.

- The (read: all) teams not standing together and finding a solution. Well, you couldn't blame Ferrari (or any other team) for not joining. everyone wants to take his advantage, that's racing!

That was a proof. And that's why I think the winners will be the teams. It's getting time for (not all too serious):

- a new organisation

- a BMW-team without a Williams carriage^Wchassis

- Schumi to win again

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

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