American Grand Prix – the aftermath

June 20, 2005 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

I knew it was coming …

At 16:25 (BST) on 20 June, the FIA made the following announcement:

Further to events at the 2005 United States Grand Prix, representatives of the seven Michelin teams have been summoned to a hearing of the FIA World Motor Sport Council to be held in Paris on Wednesday, June 29, 2005.

[source: pitpass via entry in ] [Also on the official F1 site]

My thoughts: Michelin produced/brought tyres which couldn’t cope with Turn 13, the fast banked corner before the main straight. They told the FIA on Friday that there were safety concerns and requested their teams either use new tyres or the corner be slowed by adding a chicane. Ferrari voted against the chicane (all the other 9 teams said yes, as did the circuit officials) and the FIA rejected that suggestion. The FIA’s suggestion that the teams change their Michelin tyres frequently during the race was just stupid – they only have two sets of tyres, so what do they use after the first change? The FIA also suggested the drivers (of Michelin-shod cars) could go more slowly through Turn 13 … because we all know a committed racing driver will do that, sure, and of course having more than half the field slow for that turn wouldn’t cause an accident with the faster Bridgestone runners hitting them, would it? Michelin had no option but to tell their teams that they must not race with the conditions as they stood; the teams had no choice but to comply.

Who’s at fault?

  • Michelin, because they didn’t produce/bring suitable tyres.
  • The FIA for turning the race into a farce; they could have found a compromise if they wanted.
  • NOT the teams, because they had no choice but to follow their tyre suppliers advice not to race.

Who’ll be penalised?

  • Obviously the fans (both the 120,000 at the circuit and the millions who follow it on TV);
  • Michelin and the teams will feel Bernie’s wrath.
  • The FIA, however, won’t suffer until they (try to) return to the USA for next year’s race.

A very sad weekend for F1.

Update: Interesting statement from Tony George on the IMS (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) site, basically pointing everyone at Michelin, the FIA and Formula One Management.

Also: Paul Stoddart’s account of Indianapolis 2005. There’s some telling comments, such as:

[...]
Once again, Mr Mosley was not present at that Grand Prix! It is fair to say at this point that the vast majority of people present in the room [representatives of all the teams except Ferrari, plus reps for Michelin and the circuit (IMS)] both felt and stated that Mr Mosley had completely overstepped the mark, had no idea whatsoever of the gravity of the situation, and furthermore, cared even less about the US Grand Prix, its organisers, the fans, and indeed, the hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world who were going to be affected by his intransigence.
[...]
By this time, the nine teams had discussed running a non-championship race, or a race in which the Michelin teams could not score points, and even a race whereby only the Michelin teams used the new chicane, and indeed, every other possible option that would allow 20 cars to participate and put on a show, thereby not causing the enormous damage to Formula One that all those present knew would otherwise occur.
[...]
At the conclusion of the telephone call, it was obvious that many of those in the room had lost all faith in Mr Mosley and his ability to perform his function as President of the FIA in respect of Formula One matters.
[...]
Suffice to say, those gathered at Indianapolis felt Mr Mosley, and to a lesser degree, the lack of co-operation from Mr Todt, were about to be responsible for the greatest FIAsco in Formula One’s recent history.
[...]
This left me with one of the most difficult decisions I have had to take during my time in F1, as I did not want to race, but given my current relationship with Mr Mosley, felt certain heavy sanctions would follow if I did not. I made it clear to Bernie Ecclestone, and several Team Principals, that if the Jordans either went off or retired, I would withdraw the Minardi cars from the race.
[...]
but there is no question in my mind that the farce that occurred on Sunday, June 19, 2005 at Indianapolis was the responsibility of the FIA President, Max Mosley, and compounded by the lack of support from Jean Todt.
[...]
Far more importantly, however, Mosley refused to accept any of the solutions offered, and that refusal was, I believe, politically motivated. Therefore, I feel he failed in his duty, and that is why I have called for his resignation.

I think that clears up just who was responsible for turning Michelin’s problem into the total farce that was the 2005 US GP.

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Comments

3 Comments on American Grand Prix – the aftermath

  1. canuckgirl on Mon, 20th Jun 2005 7:17 pm

    2. What’s a chicane, btw??

    From what I’ve read, it sounded like the FIA wasn’t giving an inch, and that turned the race into a farce. Especially sad cause it seems like F1 is already having problems gaining an American audience, and this seems like a huge setback. The fans that were there were rightfully pissed off.

  2. henman on Mon, 20th Jun 2005 7:30 pm

    3. It’s a kink in the track used to slow cars either on a long straight or before a sharp corner. [Example]

  3. henman on Mon, 20th Jun 2005 7:40 pm

    4. The FIA wouldn’t give an inch, as you say, but that’s completely true to form – Bernie Ecclestone (aka the poison dwarf) has almost absolute power over the sport. :(

    At the start of the race weekend (I think it was Friday) Bernie was moaning that there hadn’t been enough publicity of the event, hence the “small” crowd of 120,000 … Indy pulls in about four times that, I believe.

    The fans (both at the circuit and watching on TV) were justifiably annoyed, but there’s absolutely no excuse for the morons who started throwing bottles and rubbish on the track while the cars were doing 200mph – that could kill someone!