Michelin Is The Only Blame

Yes, but the organizers of the event DID indeed come up with a solution (Michelin cars could go slower in turn 13), but it was Michelin & their teams that rejected that. They could have raced under those circumstances and done so safely, but THEY are the ones who refused, not the FIA or Ferrari or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or Bridgestone.
The teams with inferior equipment tend to run slower, not get all kinds of dispensations to give them an advantage over the ones who are prepared and are following the rules.
Something was worked out.

 

The people who took their time and hard earned money to go and support F1 deserve their money back. The cost of tickets is only a small part of the total cost of the weekend. I was gone to Freeport and just got back and can't believe my eyes.

 

I second this opinion!!!

 

Total selfishness within the Michelin teams. They were given the choice to run the race at safe speeds, but they cowardly rejected that- thinking that they deserve some kind of special treatment... for what!?! Michelin did not come prepared, so why should the rules be changed? A chicane could of proved to be disasterous...who knows... but it sure as hell isnt Ferrari's fault. They did NOTHING worng, they simply came prepared for the race.

This entire situation just pisses me off. Michelin is at fault, but the FIA is not in good standings either. The FIA is responsible for making sure there is a race... PERIOD... and they failed. Michelin failed. The fans get the short end of the stick. Sad, sad, sad

 

Michelin screwed up but the teams are to blame. They are in charge of their results and they make their own choices. Let them blame Michelin behind closed doors but they are in charge of their own team and results.
Todt, while taking about tire issues this year, has refused to blame Bridgestone as he knows it is a Ferrari issue. The teams could have kept some high ground by refusing to leave the garage, although they should have run at lower speeds at turn 13. I will say, that having the drivers ride around in those old cars waving to the crowd, then driving the warm up lap and quiting, is totaly disgraceful. Had I been one of those drivers and they had told me that is what we were doing, I would have told them to go and F!@# themselves.

 

So, in your world Ferrari makes the rules, Ferrari assumes the decision and liability for the chicane, Ferrari overrides the Stewards decisions on penalties, and the FIA exists only to funnel money to Ferrari (after their commissions, of course). Perhaps Ferrari was behind the Michelin tire issues -- maybe a mole in the factory at Clemont-Ferrand?

What color IS the sky is your world? Are the days 24 hours long? Only two genders? I'm kinda curious....

Stu, don't ever let the facts of a situation get in the way of your ranting.

 

And how would that even be possible? Depend on the teams not to go too fast? Nice solution, a 10 year old could do better than that.

 

Agree.
This is the letter I just sent to Michelin.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since Michelin has been at the USGP for several years, I don't understand how there is suddenly a need to break the rules to favor your failure to bring a safe tire for the race.
It is a travesty that you even request that the rules be violated to accomodate your failure.
With the costs of airfare, parking & transportation, food & race ticket, you owe me approximately $950. Pleae remit to the above address.
I will be very happy to join in a class action lawsuit against the Micheliln company if you do not accept your responsibility instead of blaming others & making excuses.

 

In short, Michelin was at fault and unprepared.

 

I don't know if this has been mentioned on any other threads - it is food for thought . . . . more grippy?? (as perhaps pulling tires off rims?) direction of the racing line?? (what if you are going the opposite direction?)

Carol


Diamond Ground Racing Surface
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was resurfaced this winter and the speed and grip of the track come May was a big question mark. Early testing showed a severe lack of grip on the slick new surface. To compensate for this and artificially age the track it was diamond ground.

Diamond grinding is a process where several (about 40) diamond-toothed saw blades are strung together on an axel and used to cut strips of very thin, evenly spaced and shallow grooves along the track in the direction of the racing line (Lowes Motor Speedway underwent this resurfacing process this past Winter as well, with rave reviews for the resultant new surface). A diamond ground surface looks like a more precise version of the grooved turns that we sometimes see on public roads here in the Northeast to give drivers more traction in snow and ice. This process allows a resurfaced speedway to be super smooth and fast, without the one-to-two year in period for the surface to wear in and grip to returns. While the ground track has proven far more "grippy," that grip takes drivers and engineers towards the envelope and beyond.

 

Can someone educate me here...... You have a team (F1 or whatever), it chooses to use "X" brand of tire. That same team you would assume knows the limitations of all their equipment because thats their sole purpose in life. Test, test, drive, drive, test..... They are darn near rocket scientists on the subject........

So, Why would it be anyone elses responsibility to run, not-run a race other than that team? (Its like I tell my wife when she comes home and says I only got a 89 on a test, it was hard........ Point here is that someone did get a 100 because they were prepared)


Bob

 

I sent an e-mail on Sunday to Michelin stating that I would never do business with them again and here is the response I just received, the spin is on:

Thank you for contacting Michelin. We share your disappointment about the 2005 United States Grand Prix, and we hope the following facts will help you
understand the situation more fully.

Michelin equipped teams did not participate in the Formula One Grand Prix at Indianapolis on Sunday, June 19, out of concern for driver safety. Michelin equips seven teams (14
cars) in Formula One. As a result of the race conditions, only three teams (six cars) on non-Michelin tires participated in the race.

During the weekend, it became obvious that there was a tire issue at the track. Two Toyota cars had rapid deflations on the left rear tire during Friday practice. Michelin technical teams in France and in Greenville, South
Carolina worked through the weekend to determine the source of the issue and to find a solution before the start of the race.

Formula One racing is one of the most demanding applications for tires in the world, equipping highly complex and technical vehicles that operate at
speeds well over 200 mph. Tire regulations for the race are also very strict, severely limiting the tire solutions that can be brought to the race, used by the teams and also limiting tire maker access to the tracks and to tire testing. The circuit at Indianapolis had been resurfaced and
diamond ground since last year's Grand Prix. Michelin was not allowed on-track testing on the new surface before the race weekend, and therefore had to make many critical assumptions about the new surface, race circuit
and its interaction with the tires. Bridgestone (through its Firestone brand) participates in the Indianapolis 500, which allowed experience with the new track surface prior to the F1 event.

Michelin, working with its partner teams, devised several solutions which would have allowed all teams to compete in the race. These solutions included airlifting in replacement tires from Spain which arrived in Indy early Sunday morning. However, FIA regulations would not allow the new tires to be used in the race.

Nine of the ten competing teams also suggested adding a chicane just before Turn 12-13. A chicane is essentially a lane change feature, or quick turn
added to the track layout to slow down the field at critical points. While the Speedway was prepared to add the chicane and start the race on time, one
participating team and the FIA refused to allow the change.

Given the rejection of all Michelin solutions, the only option was to advise its teams not to participate in the race with the available tires. Michelin regrets that its tires were not suitable for use in racing conditions this weekend, but driver safety is always a priority. Michelin will never change
its stance on this principle, whether we are talking about tires for competition or any other purpose.

Michelin is very disappointed about the way the United States Grand Prix turned out at Indianapolis, for the public, the drivers and the teams. It is regrettable that our pre-race suggestions, agreed in conjunction with our
partner teams, were not adopted. If those proposals had been accepted, we could have guaranteed driver safety, the participation of our teams and added interest for the public.

Michelin would like to thank its seven partner teams for their close collaboration, for having made propositions to the FIA and for having respected our advice on safety issues. Michelin will continue to investigate
the technical reasons for the tire-related incidents that affected Toyota during Friday's free practice.

Thanks again for contacting Michelin and for your understanding regarding the race. If you have additional questions, please respond to this email or
you may call us at 1-800-847-3435 (toll-free) between 8:30AM and 6:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday to allow one of our Consumer Relations
Representatives to assist you.

Michelin North America
Consumer Relations Department

 

Exactly my point in an earlier post - a new surface -> Michelin did not have the opportunity to test the NEW surface. I would wonder why Michelin was not allowed on-track testing - was it IMS, FIA?? who disallowed testing?? This should be interesting. Sounds more like Michelin got shafted.

Carol

 

Sure.

Imagine this conversation between Bridgestone and Ferrari:

"hey, did you hear that they resurface the indy track? Let's go do more testing to ensure our tires can handle it, let's not tell the french blokes and disturb their baguette and coffee break."

The head guy for Michelin in charge of F1 activities should be looking for a new job.

 

There was plenty of press regarding the issues the Indy cars were having with tires and that was 3 weeks ago, at the very least knowing that they would have shown up with a soft and hard compound as originally instructed to do, but instead they show up with only soft compound. \

Also in the letter they mention that they were not allowed to use the tires they had flown in, not exactly true as the FIA suggested they use them and accept the penalty. Notice how this letter says nothing about the flown in tires being problematic. Paul Stoddard says they tested them at the track and they had the same defect, amazing how Michelin didn't know about the test. I don't think Michelin would write such a detailed account of how they did everything right and then forget to include a test of the new tires. So we now no that not only did Michelin screw up, but they are liars and so is Paul Stoddard.

 

So they blame Ferrari and FIA. Nice...

 

Or maybe it was more like this:

Firestone: "Hey Bridgeston dudes, you got a race at Indy in a few weeks, right?"
Bridgestone: "yeah, what of it?"
Firestone: "Well, this new diamond grind is tearing the hell out of our tires, you might want to check into it prior to the USGP"
Bridgestone: "Send us your data, don't share it with anyone else, and thanks for the heads up!"

Just a supposition, I have no facts to support that scenario. I agree that the resurfacing was not a secret, but I don't know if the F1 tire manufacturers were given an opportunity to test. If NOT, then couldn't it seem plausible that Bridgestone got a leg up on Michelin through Firestone??

 

They where given a chance to test. Bridgestone tested on all their cars. Michielin tested on two. Obviously they didn't think much of it.

 

Rob has hit the nail on the head, it is that simple.

Paul
Rob and i agree completely (that should be in the next news letter)

 

This should blow a hole in the theory that Bridgestone-Firestone connection gave Bridgestone a leg up on Michelin over data for Indy's new surface.

So if Firestone used the same spec tire this year as last surely not that much has changed with respect to the surface. This does nothing but put more of the focus on Michelin as to why they have a problem this year.

From Pitpass.com:

Firestone used same spec tyres in 2004 and 2005 Indy 500

22/06/2005

Although the new track surface at Indianapolis had been diamond-ground, a spokesperson has informed Pitpass that Firestone used the same spec tyres in the recent Indy 500 as it used in the 2004 event.

Furthermore, the spokesperson informed Pitpass, that during tests it was discovered that wear rates were good and that there were no durability issues. Indeed, the spokesperson was keen to stress that the current surface is a "little less severe".

Apparently, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been diamond-ground since 2003, furthermore the recent resurfacing "did not affect the angle of the banking".

"This information was freely available before the recent United States Grand Prix," added the spokesperson, who confirmed that it was even reported in a recent edition of the British magazine, Autosport.

"It is every manufacturer's responsibility to check a circuit's surface and layout," said the spokesperson. The only two tracks where this is a problem are Monaco and Melbourne - both street circuits - in which case the tyre manufacturer must rely (mainly) on data from previous events.

 

It looks to me that Michelin, in their effort to kept tires as light as they can, just plain blew it when they forgot to take into account the high side load stress of turn 13.

They have been getting away all year with tires that by end of race are all but ready to fail however still managed to get across the line. This race that stratigy just wasn't going to work. Once they saw results of practice thier only chance to solve this defect was to make changes which would once again make their tire the one to beat.

I hate to admit this (I was at race and left over $1000 in Indy) I have to agree with FIA on this one.