United States Grand Prix - Discussion

[LUD02C]

the US crowd got ripped off.

That might be so, but they didn't get ripped off by the teams in the race and throwing bottles and endangering the lives of these drivers is unacceptable.

Did you hear ITV talking to the US crowd?
I can understand the money issue and disappointment of them, Bernie should pay them back!

[Vivski]

Hey Jase, your $10 on Schumey is looking a bit safer now isn't it?...

Obviously you can't build a chicane 30mins before the race. But it was on the cards way before that. They could have done it overnight. It would've been a statement of "we Americans do what needs to be done with our can-do attitude".

I don't know why everyone is saying Ferrari would be penalised if they altered the track and held the race and gave all the Michelin runners zero points. Ferrari would still get their 18 points, so where's the penalty?

And I think Crompton was referring to the crowd not having any idea what was going on... as in they didn't know why Michelin had pulled out. The crowd was very good in my opinion. Everyone was saying how good the crowd was, except for a few idiots who threw bottles and beer cans. Imagine if it had been in Europe! There would have been a riot.

Other than those points, yep I agree. And I vote for chucking the tips for this round in the bin.

I can't wait for Magny-Cours when all this is behind us and we're back to the great season we've been having. I really hope this weekend doesn't spoil the rest of the year.

[LUD02C]

I don't think its gonig to ruin it for the die hard fans, but I was so angry when I watched it.
Just to know that they couldn't come up with a solution for the drivers safety.

[Javed]

Blame does lie with Michelin, but not 100 percent. Michelin did everything they could to find a resolution just to get the cars on the track, knowing full well they would still be heavily penalised. It was not even their obligation to try and resolve the issue, but they wanted to try and get a USGP going. The FIA are to blame for the final OUTCOME, however yes Michelin are to blame in the first place. I still believe the Michelin company tried their best by their teams, and hence should not be as heavily criticised as they will of course be. Oh and to whoever suggested that the other teams would not care if it was a role reversal, i guarantee they would have agreed to let them run without scoring points. Briatore said he did not care about points he just wanted to go racing, and same with all the other teams I am sure. Shame FIA shame!

[Javed]

Found this VERY interesting....

Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but I found this on planet-f1.com and I thought I'd cut it in. Basically it's about the concessions granted to Bridgestone in 2003 at Brazil. I found it interesting reading.

Back in 2003 you were only allowed to take one wet tyre to races, so you had to make your mind up before the event. Bridgestone arrived at Interlagos with their legendary intermediate tyre that was quite good in wet and mixed conditions. Michelin had a full wet that could run in more rain.

When the heavens opened before the race, Whiting delayed the start because the Bridgestone runners wouldn’t have been able to make it round safely. It was clearly Bridgestone’s fault for not bringing a full wet tyre, but as the argument has gone this weekend – they knew the situation…

After delaying the start the field was then sent round Interlagos behind the Safety Car until enough water was taken off the circuit.

Hmmmm..... Food for thought!

[pornstar]

OK in response, Viv, When would the drivers get to drive the track with a chicane there? The first lap of the race? its not possible Viv, get on a race track and drive 100% on it with even an average street car, see if you can race on one without knowing a line or a way through it.... Its rubbish, you cant change track layout cos a tyre cant take it, if the tyre cant take it dont use it.

REMEMBER VERY VERY VERY CLEARLY: the teams could start the race, and then pit to change to a safer michelin tyre on the grounds of safety, charley whiting outlined this in his letter, he even said u wont get a black flag, but you would receive some penalty. Its BS that the michelin teams didnt just do this, if they have problems with their tyres on the grounds of safety, they CAN change it. Why those chose not too is anyones guess...

Its a sad sad day makes GPWC seem much more real now, I mean even if RBR goes to ferrari engines, imagine an F1 without the manufacturers....lol

[h17am]

That's exactly right... they are allowed to change the tyres during the race, on the grounds of safety, but noooo lets put a bloody chicane in... pfft... Michelin is now putting the blame solely on FIA now for not resolving the matter.... omg... what are they going to do next? invade germany for WW2 revenge???... sheeshh....

[^^v]

That's exactly right... they are allowed to change the tyres during the race, on the grounds of safety, but noooo lets put a bloody chicane in... pfft... Michelin is now putting the blame solely on FIA now for not resolving the matter.... omg... what are they going to do next? invade germany for WW2 revenge???... sheeshh....

in that case they woulda had to come in every few laps...
but yea.. woulda been better than not running at all...

[Javed]

IF you pit so much guys.... engines will blow up. The end! So that resolution was rightly declined!

[dc2dc2dc2]

that race was f****** thats all i can say. now the USA are definitely never gonna support F1 anymore. Most of them probalby came to watch Monty. i didn't even bother watching it, once it was official there was only gonan be 6 starters. BOO TO F1 bernie is killing it, and they wonder why they are running at such a loss.

[^^v]

Jean Todt explains Ferrari's position
'Honestly, why should we compromise?'





'I mainly feel sorry for all the supporters' - Todt

After Sunday’s controversial United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, Jean Todt clarified Ferrari’s position in the run-up to the situation which led to 14 Michelin runners peeling off into the pits at the end of the parade lap, taking no further part in the race.

But first Todt admitted that “I feel sorry about what happened, but I mainly feel sorry for all the supporters who were here, for the American supporters, for the TV viewers but it was not our decision.”

The reason why the Michelin runners took no part in the race was because they had unsuitable tyres on which they were recommended not to race. Compromises were sought from various sources to let the Michelin runners race, even for no points, but no solution was found.

At one point, a chicane was suggested in the quick banked corner at the end of the lap, where one of the Michelin tyre failures took place during practice. Todt explained that he was not consulted on this.

“We were never involved with those discussions,” said Todt. “Never involved. We were never asked about that. Whether we would have agreed or not is another question, and I tell you right now, to be sincere, we would not have agreed, but we were never asked about that. But is it serious to decide to put in a chicane half an hour without nobody testing it? It’s ridiculous.”


Todt did say that Bernie Ecclestone had talked to him about “different proposals, including a chicane, but again, it’s a matter of the FIA, it’s not a matter of the commercial rights holder (Ecclestone’s position). And I said that for me it was up to the FIA to decide.”

Continuing to explain his position, Todt pointed out that “number one, it’s an FIA decision. Number two, if something happened on the other side; if, for example, we don’t have enough grip for qualifying and we ask for three laps because we have good grip after the third lap, or if we ask for a chicane because we feel it would be safer for our tyres, I think everybody would laugh at us. So you just have to be prepared to react to a situation.

“You have two sets of tyres which you chose from, one normally is soft, the other one is hard and then you make your choice. I feel sorry for those who could not compete, but I feel more sorry, again, for the supporters.”

Todt then explained the disadvantages of the sudden installation of a chicane. “If we knew beforehand that there would be a chicane, we would have come prepared for a chicane. We would come with different tyres, we would have a different set-up on the car, we would have different gear ratios.

“Honestly, why should we compromise? We try to do a good job with Bridgestone, and we did not do a very good job with Bridgestone since the beginning of the year. We arrive, we are in a situation where we see from Friday that we are competitive, we don’t have any problem with tyres so for us it’s an opportunity.”

There was even a suggestion that the Michelin teams would compete for no points if a chicane was installed. But Todt’s reply was “would we have competed for no points? I say no. If this race would have been a race without points which cannot be, it would have been out of the FIA standard, we would not have started.”

Asked what sort of harm the boycott had done the image of Formula One, Todt replied “very bad. I wish we could come back to the States because it’s a very important country, it’s now our number one market, the States, and for so many years Bernie has tried to implement something in the States. Unfortunately, it was not the best demonstration today. It has been a hard hit for Formula One today.”

Todt explained that the teams had been warned about pushing the tyre situation to the limit. “We all got a letter two weeks ago warning us after the Monte Carlo race and after Nurburgring when Raikkonen had his problem, that we had to pay special attention to the tyres, the pressures, about all that, and it’s something we thought could happen for a while.”

Asked under what circumstances he would you have been willing to race with the Michelin runners, Todt said “I would say three options. One, they could have changed their tyres. Two, they would have to compromise in this specific corner. And three, they could have used the pit lane. If these cars cannot take this corner, what can I do? You would have had a race.”

Source Ferrari Press

f1live.com

[Javed]

Bernie, Max and Jean, sitting in a tree...... ahahahaha