Speed Replay Of USGP-Confirmed My Original Impression

My question is why did they all agree NOT to race? SOME of the Michelin teams were not showing tire problems when they added air pressure. The only reason I can see that some teams didn't at least try is because Michelin stated the tires were unsafe. If any Michelin team had gone out and had an injury, they would have been legally responsible.
Pretty sad.

Rick

 

My thoughts as well. On the 29th 7 teams have some explaining to do. It will be interesting to hear the other sides story.

 

They didn't race because they wanted to stick it to Mosley & Bernie, they could have gone slower through the turn and chose not to , same difference as putting a chicane to slow things down. Now it's time to penalize the teams with sanctions since they had no regards for us the fans.

 

I'm still of the opinion that the fact they got no points for that weekend was enough penalty for the teams. To strip all michelin teams of all world championship points, is ridiculous. To penalise Kimi or Fernando for a mess up that Michelin and the FIA created is totally unfair and to do this would turn this whole season into a farce not just the one race. If i were to win a championship in that way i'd give it back, as would MS or whoever did win it. The FIA is not without blame in this whole thing as far as i'm concerned, they simply did not wish to compromise at all, and used no common sense. No matter what special circumstances might have occurred. Even if the teams got no points for modifications to the track or other things that could have been worked out, the race should have gone on. The governing body is just as much to blame if not more in my eyes. Michelin messed up, of that there is no denying. When you are pushing the limits of tire development miscalculations can happen, this has happened at one time or other to most tire suppliers in most forms of racing. The results can be potentially fatal if people are not careful. But the people who's job is to help the situation and find a solution, did nothing except pound thier fists and say just race, who cares if your tires might be unsafe.

 

How can you tell a racing driver to go slower through a corner, how could anyone possibly monitor that? That wasn't a viable solution either.

 

Agreed on both points above!

The FIA is blameless, the rules for the season are the rules. There is no compromise, the epitome of common sense.

 

tifosiron I couldn’t agree more with your comments. It is entirely the fault of the teams and of their tire supplier, Michelin. I would only like to add that this certainly heightens my respect for John Todt and the whole Ferrari Team. I didn’t see them crying when they were having tire problems and by the way I didn’t see any of the Michelin teams wanting to change any of the race parameters for the Bridgestone teams or did I miss that?!

I a mean after all this is a COMPETITIVE event! If you aren’t ready you have NO ONE to blame but yourself!

All the other teams should take a lesson for the sportsmanship and professionalism that Ferrari has demonstrated.

 

I believe that rules are rules as well. But is what happened the only solution? Is it not the FIA's job to make sure the show goes on safely?

 

The article in Autoweek got it right. Only Ferrari voted against adding the chicane ( a solution which would have also given ALL the points to Bridgestone teams). As to the FIA, to qoute Autoweek "Like the man said, there comes a time when you have to set aside principle and simply do what is right." We could have had a "race" and the internal bickering should've been dealt with privately. No argument that Michelin totally f*^ked up, but like all of us in life, you play the hand you're dealt the best you can. Again, while the problem's cause rests squarely with Michelin, the FIA's intransigence is why we had no show, IMHO.

 

Dumbest solution ever.

 

Here u go!
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*sigh*

Everywhere I look on the Internet, I see this same attitude: "Fsck the rules! We want a show". People don't want competition, they want the appearance of competition. And girls with big b**bs carrying signs.

The cold equations of real competition is that sometimes you win, sometimes you lose --- sometimes one team walks away with the whole season, and sometimes you get spanked and put to bed without dessert. You win some and you lose some. Maybe the close ones are more "entertaining" -- or, at least, entertaining for more laps. But competition isn't about staging, it's about doing it better than the other team. If you scr*w up, you lose ... or you sulk in the garage, rather than taking your licking.

Both Ferrari and FIA have repeated said it: Ferrari wasn't even asked to vote about the chicane by the FIA -- the FIA vetoed it, because it's stupid to make last second changes to a track (after qualifying, no less) just to benefit one tire supplier.

So many of the excuse theories (Firestone secret memos to Bridgestone, etc) appeared within minutes of the Michelin abort, all over the Internet, that I have to "credit" Bibspindoctor for "damage control" on a Grand Scale.

I'm just depressed that so many people bought it.

But then, I'm also depressed about how many people buy SUVs and are content to sit in gridlock ... provided nobody else is having fun either.

 

Just curious, how would making a last minute change to the track benefit one tire supplier? They were pretty much in trouble from the start when they realised they had the problem. They weren't going to get points for the USGP anyway, to let them race would only be for the benefit of the fans. There would be no F1 without fans so what is the problem? I see nothing wrong with that. Rules were meant to be broken or bent, when the situation calls for it. Many of you guys lose sight of that with a very narrow minded view that rules are rules and all that. Bottom line is, no fans no racing.

 

I think you're missing my point. I'm not at all saying "f*^k the rules", but rather that, in this instance the rule making body had the opportunity to make an informed decision which, while not within the written rules, was ENTIRELY within their power to do so and chose not to do it. If, as you and others seem to feel, that the "rules" are so immuteable and sacrosanct, we should still be running front engined, under-tired, non-aero package cars, with small windscreens and leather helmets.

 

It keeps coming back to what I've been thinking all week...

If Michelin flew in tires which they knew were safe, why then were they not allowed to be used?

And, if Michelin has the capability to win at Le Mans, running triple and quadrupple stints in 95F plus heat at sustained speeds higher than Indy, why couldnt they make a tire to run at Indy if they have the technology to produce their tires on site to suit the conditions?

Is Michelin's capablity to build tires on site just in Europe (or) has that been banned or simply not in play for the "fly away" races?

Another thought is, when the envelope is pushed be it in racing, aeronautics, space exploration, etc. its enivitable that failures will occour thats the nature of the business.

BHW

 

Don't think heat or speed were the issues, but rather sidewall load on the banking, in combination with speed. Agree completely with your point on pushing the envelope.

 

In my opinion, yes.

If a car fails tech inspection, it is not allowed to race. Is that the fault of the rules? I think not.

Above my desire to have watched a "real" race, I place the safety of the drivers and spectators.

No, their primary function is as a governing/enforcement body.

If Williams came without engines, do we chide Ferrari for not supporting their request that the other teams remove their engines and have the pit crews push the cars around the track, just to see a race???

I think not.

Ferrari and the rest of the teams did not have any say on what happened. Whether a team voted for or against is a non-issue. The teams do not have any voting control over the FIA. This "vote" was taken as a census on whether or not to appeal to the FIA, for a change in the rules or the track, not a decision, it also seems that there was an overwheming majority without Ferrari's vote.

But in the end the decision was soley up to the FIA, and I personally see no error in their decision.

Why would anybody want to race for no points? Why would they place their drivers and cars in jeopardy for no reward. If they were not racing for points, (just a possibility, not actually accusing anybody of a plot, although it has happened before) they could make sure that Ferrari did not score any points also.

Michelin's tires probably would not have been safe to run in any track configuration, I can't imagine any other reason they REQUIRED all teams shod with their tires withdraw from the race, save starting a pissing match with FIA.

They had problems with their tires because they were on the wrong side of the performance/safety balance. It's nobody but Michelin's fault.

I truly regret that there was essentially no race, but the FIA set and announced the conditions and rules for the race season far in advance. The only reasons that people have been so upset by this is the number of affected cars or that their preferred team was forced to wimp out at Michelin's insistance.

IMO, all of the VERY public actions initiated by Michelin since this problem arose are merely attempts at shifting blame.

 

Simply, it would have violated the rules and given them an advantage not afforded the Bridgestone teams.

Different race, the tire design for LeMans are focused heavily on durability and reliability. The F1 tires are mainly focused on performance and light weight. Safety/reliability, with Michelin F1 tires, has obviously taken a back seat.

I agree, the failures will occur, but Michelin should do like everybody else who
finds themselves in that position, bite the bullet, accept your failure and move on.

 

Drivers will listen to their chief mechanic when he says "don't do this or the car will not last". Anyone that doesn't is a fool and not a real driver.

 

Oh man,

I forgot to set the ReplayTV

Is it going to be on again?

 

I can't wait for that meeting in Paris the 29th

 

What is there to govern if there is no race? Alienating fans is a great way to end up with no series at all. This was a set of unfortunate circumstances, Michelin did not do this on purpose. Some people act as if they did. There should have been a compromise.

 

It's like this.

Michelin, and the teams running their tires, tried to bully the FIA into doing what they wanted. They tried this because there were so many teams running the Michelin tires, that they thought the FIA would fold.

WRONG!

You have got to be high on crack to think that. This is the same governing body that punishes teams for having one millimeter too much tred on a tire. Yet they think that the FIA will change an entire turn? Yeah right?!

Michelin was COMPLETELY WRONG, and the teams were idiots to follow along.