F1 Race @ Indy

[240ZX]

Well, I'm guessing that every F1 fan is as pissed off as I am at MICHELIN's big tire F-up on Sunday's race (Ferrarri practice)! Six friggin car!!! Now thats a race.......right! Anyone care to share their thoughts on Sunday's big race???

[abas]

Apart from the understandably hacked off fans who were there and paid up for tickets/accomodation I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes old news fairly quickly as F1 supposedly barely registers in the US, the same as NASCAR and the like barely register in Europe. I am sure the lawsuits will be flying for a while to come though. It is not as if it was a money spinner for F1 as they were having to sell tickets at reduced rates to get the US public interested.

So there might not be a US grand prix next year? So? There are plenty of other countries and circuits who are gagging to get a place on the F1 calendar, and who knows what will happen in 2008 when the 'breakaway' F1 series starts.

But what a way to mess up the organisation of a grand prix. Whilst none of the possible solutions ( chicane, tyres from Spanish GP) would have been perfect within the rules ANY of them would have been better than what happened yesterday.

By the way I don't think it is good enough to blame Michelin. It is not as if they dumped this on the teams at one hours notice. There were a number of solutions that could have been tried that would have resulted in a race with a full grid but the politics got in the way.

[240ZX]

I tend to think that the entire "one set of tires rule" per race is pretty lame! Come on, this is supposed to be the top of the heap racing! Another point I've thought about is.....every time the FIA attempts to slow the cars down, the teams find a way to keep their speeds up (thanks to $$$ and technology) so, the way I see it, the only weak link in the chain are the old, too slow race tracks! How about building some tracks that can handle the latest and future speeds and technology. I'm quessing the fans would love to see, if only for a fraction of a second, cars whizzing by at 250mph +!!!

[Ron Carter]

Safety and politics never mix. I think that this will ruin the US F1 GP. People come from all over the world to see this race. I am sure that there will be plenty of fall out from this, although not necessarly in regards to F1 racing in the United States.

[jmanz6]

While not happy to see the outcome of the race (only six cars), I don't think the blame lies anywhere but on Michelin. The Bridgestone teams came with a tire that ran the track with no problems. Why should they make last minute changes to the track because one tire mfr didn't have a cometitive product. Had it been the Bridgestone tires that were failing, and there was a possibilty Ferrari would not be able to race, the "fans" (Schumacher haters) would have been happy to see those cars not there. I think it will be damaging to Michelin in their future with F1. They were right not "bend" any of the rules because the tires were failing. Obviously someone made a tire that would race all the way, so it can be done. This will probably spell the end of F1 at Indy, but there are other tracks in the US that would be much better for an F1 race anyway. Watkins Glenn would be awsome, Sears Point would be cool as well.

[ZCCOR#109]

Well, as was suggested on another site, just go to the Cleveland GP and register your choice of competition with your attendence at the most competitive road racing.

[Sweetpea]

I was at the race yesterday... I was disappointed for the first time with my favorite sport... I will continue to love it though. It just pisses me off, though.

Shame on Michelin for not testing/developing a tire that would perform at Indy... Bridgestone did their homework, no excuse for Michelin. No doubt, Michelin learned their lesson here...

Shame on the Michelin teams for trying to point fingers at the FIA and Ferrari... this further builds their "case" for a break-away series in 2008.

Shame on Bernie & Max for creating such turmoil in the sport through their back-door manipulation & strong-arm tactics. It will catch up with them soon... and yesterday may have been the beginning.

My question (and I am going out on a limb here)... has the one-tire-per-race rule actually fulfilled its intent? The cars aren't driving any slower. I would venture to say that tire changes would allow teams to keep fresher (hence safer) tires on their cars throughout the race.

[ZCCOR#109]

Big B owns the show, he make the $, then he has to take responsibility. Yes the tires failed. Then the ringmaster has to do something, cause the "show must go on".

It didn't.

B E is an A$%, the whole world knows it, and T George is his twin.

If you want to see real competition and real racing, go to the "Run-0ffs" in September. three days, 29 races, 29 champions. Get close to the action, walk the padock free, talk to the drivers and mechanics, all for $30.

See ya at Mid Ohio.

[Ricklandia]

HOLY....!!!!

I missed yesterday's race as our company had it's yearly Golf tournament (won it, BTW ). I am a long time F1 fan, having seen my first race some 30 years ago as a kid up in Watkins Glen, and look forward to watching them live no matter the time of day. I was hoping to avoid any press coverage (not hard to do here in the States) so that I could watch it's rebroadcast on Friday with the same enthusiasm I always do.

When I saw this thread, I couldn't resist taking a look. To be honest, I couldn't figure out WTF was going on, so I hit up F1's official website.

I still can't believe what I read.

I can appreciate Michelins position and concern for safety, but MAN did they screw up! And for the Michelin teams to even suggest adding a chicane is not only ridiculous, but also pretty selfish. None of them were shedding tears for Bridgestone/Ferrari earlier this year when they were struggling.

As for the fans blaming Ferrari, shut up and go back to watching NASCAR... please!

Some of the press were suggesting that this incident might kill F1 in the United States, and I honestly don't know why? The USGP has had some pretty good attendance since it's reinception at Indy. I'll admit it's not as good as some other countries/tracks, but OTOH, the IMS is collosal in size and has done a very good job filling seats. Dead? I don't think so. It's just sad that F1 in the US can't visit some of this country's truley great road circuits, but it's easy to understand why.

[Sweetpea]

If the race is held in Indy again (next year), there's going to be some really good seats available, for sweetheart prices I'm sure.

Michelin stock is down 7% today... doh!

[panchovisa]

The fans will vote on F1 with their wallets, and I can't imagine there was much of a line to buy 2006 tickets today (a huge line to get refunds though).

F1 is done at Indy and I can't imagine any other track promoter thinking that taking it's (Indy's) place is a good business decision.

[Ricklandia]

Not to toot my own horn here, but I've been suggesting the one tire rule for years (and gotten plenty of flames for it), and I'm glad it was adopted. I think it's exactly what F1 needed. Here's my logic:

1. We know that although F1 is considered by many to be the "pinnacle" of motor racing, a contest of the heavyweights where no-holds-barred is the norm, that's actually not true at all. If that were the case, F1 manufacturers would long ago have gotten rid of drivers completely and simply replaced them with computers, servos and the like. Think back to the early 90's and take the technology to it's logical end.

2. If you want to keep manufacturers interested in the sport (ie more makers, more teams) then you need to tailor the rules in such a way that they can actually benefit from them in the long run. In the days of old, it wasn't so hard for car makers to justify racing because things they learned on the track could and often did make thier way onto the production line. That includes the tire manufacturers. Now if you are asking the tire manufactuters to invest MILLIONS upon millions of dollars to develop the ultimate racing tire that only needs to last 20 laps, and is of virtually no practical value other than PR, it won't be long before they'll lose interest too. Now, ask them to compete in developing a tire that is not only fast but must LAST... see my point? THAT has real-world application.

3. In these days of super high downforce, super-goopy tires that are so tuned and specialized that they either work perfectly of not at all, what you end up with are 10-20 laps of racing followed by 50 laps of follow the leader because no one can risk racing "off-line". At some of these tracks, roadside marbles are so bad that even 1/2 carwidth offline and your spinning. What's the challenge in all that?

IMHO, the "One Tire" rule brings back the skill and strategy of racing that F1 has lacked for a long time. I'll give you a case in point:

Kimi Raikkonen's finish (or lack thereof) at the EuropeanGP just a few weeks ago. Raikkonen's last lap tire failure and subsequent loss was a direct result of flatspotting (badly) his tire mid-race. Driver error = Driver loss. Simple.

I think it would have been a true treat to see the likes of Ayrton Senna four wheel drifting a F1 car around. Or Schumaker for that matter. These drivers have skills most people can't comprehend, why not let us SEE them, instead of burying them inside of tens or even thousands of seconds on a laptime sheet.

If it were me (cough, cough) I'd give 'em just one set of tires, rain OR shine, every three races. Since when do YOU change your tires every time it rains? Hmmm?

One mans (humble) opinion, that's all. :tapemouth