Staggering USGP...

Mr. Pockets · #1 06-19-2005, 06:46 PM

Well, I've certainly seen nothing like it, that's for sure.

Shame on Michelin and shame on the teams running (or, as is the case, not running) their tires. You didn't bring appropriate equipment to the race, and instead of playing by the rules and taking the penalties, you pouted and took your cars home.

Shame on all of you.

SVXphile · #2 06-19-2005, 08:02 PM

I listened to the "race" and all the commentary, and I still want to hear some more details after the dust settles. There is no doubt that the original problem lies at the feet of Michelin for not having the correct tires or having faulty ones. It is not the first time they have run at Indy; I can't understand why they now have a problem other than (1) the new tire rule and (2) the recent resurfacing of the track. Bridgestone may have profited from the fact that their Firestone tires just completed the 500 and that gave them some feedback on the track changes. Having to run just one set for qualifying and the race may have exposed a design flaw in the Michelins. After two accidents and checking the tires, Michelin declared the tires to be unsafe. For the teams to have gone out and run with them anyway was not an option. Having said that, it seems like several compromises were floated but none were acceptable to all the parties. Ferrari didn't want a chicane and they had a point. Their (Bridgestone) tires were fine on the banking, why should they be penalized for Michelin's mistake? But what amazes me....if I got these facts correct....was that the Michelin teams agreed to NO POINTS if the FIA went with a chicane, and the FIA (Moseley) still said no. The saddest thing is for the fans....many who took their vacations and traveled from other continents to attend, just to watch a Bridgestone tire test. Tony George and the Speedway offered all they could do to solve the problem, but it was out of their hands. Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, and Honda lost TONS of advertising exposure. The teams wanted to race, the drivers wanted to race, but the FIA didn't seem to want to compromise on anything. Politics put ahead of the fans. At the same time, if it were Ferrari and the other two Bridgestone teams that had the problem with their tires, the race would have gone on without them. The fans would have been disappointed, but there would have been a race. So many teams ran Michelins that parking them meant NO real race....just a test session, and guessing who would come in third.
My guess is that this is going to really light the fire under the manufacturers movement to start their own F1 series. FIA may have effectively shot themselves in the foot this time.

Don

Royal Tiger · #3 06-19-2005, 08:14 PM

What a rip. If I had paid for those tickets I would have been beyond ticked off. Any F1 elitists that rip NASCAR now should look in a mirror. I was actually upset I missed it because I had to work. Now I'm glad I didn't take time off to see it.

SVXphile · #4 06-19-2005, 08:18 PM

The one thing about Nascar...

....they put the fans first.

The most recent example is the "Green-white-checker" plan to make sure that
caution flags near the end of the race don't cause the race to end under the yellow, and the fans get to see a race to the finish. The FIA (and others) obviously don't place the fans that high in importance, or think that that is someone else's problem.

Don

SVXphile · #5 06-19-2005, 08:36 PM

I agree Chike, the bottle and can display was more like Nascar than F1....although it was nothing compared to Gordon beating Jr. under the yellow last year and the "junkyard" that came over the fence on that one! The difference is that that was when a race was OVER and this was while the "race" was still going. One of the Ferraris ran over a bottle....what if that had led to a tire failure on the banking and sent the driver to the hospital...or worse? The Ferrari drivers handled the podium deal very professionally and were obviously embarassed about he whole thing.

Still, many fans stuck around and showed good behavior while being quite VOCAL about their displeasure, or wanting refunds. We have seen from European and South American sporting events, that their fans can go ballistic to degrees that put our bad boys to shame. I hope I never see that degree of crowd reaction over here.

Don

P.S. Here is the BBC's take on things...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/4109604.stm

Mr. Pockets · #6 06-19-2005, 10:42 PM

Guys, why the hell does this have to become a NASCAR vs F1 thread? This issue is complicated enough without dragging something else in and saying 'see, NASCAR is so much bettAr!'

Cripes, man...thanks for the hijack.

This 'elitist' is tired and going to bed.

Chiketkd · #7 06-19-2005, 08:16 PM

I watched the race from start to finish. While I was dissapointed with the race only having 6 cars, I was utterly disgusted by the people who were throwing beer cans, water bottles and other items onto the track!

My hat goes off to Schumacher and Barrichelo for the professional way they handled themselves after all was said and done.

-Chike