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Post by speedyV on Jun 19, 2005 18:25:08 GMT
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Post by Hgracer on Jun 19, 2005 22:25:10 GMT
Crazy I could not believe what I was watching.  The XR2s are better anyway  Henry #55 XR2 |
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Post by Dave on Jun 20, 2005 20:33:37 GMT
I thought it was 100% correct to run the race with the 6 cars! ITV was wrong for slagging off the race and everyone else the way they did. They didnt do any comentary and the highlight show was a discrase. If 16 drivers crashed out at the start they would have to comentate on 6 or so cars so I fail to see what was different, the guys were still out there risking their lives.
Basically Michelin were in the wrong. There shouldnt have to have been a chicane built and doing so between the race and qualifying is totally absurd, it would have had to be there all weekend. The FIA and Ferrari were right not to back down. Its like a engine manufacturor saying to everyone else can we all not go above 100mph so our engine doesnt blow up. Michelin were wrong, the teams chose Michelin and they paid their price!
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Post by XR2 Baz on Jun 21, 2005 13:27:30 GMT
Sorry Dave, I have to disagree. There's no way the race should have been run with 6 cars, it's the bigger picture that you need to look at. With all the political in-fighting in F1, this has just served to strengthen it's ultimate demise. Americans are interested in entertainment and they didn't get that. If we really wanted F1 to be successful in the US, it would be scripted, the races rehearsed and so on like wrestling. Some sort of compromise should have been found to allow all the cars to run, I don't blame them for not doing so. I wuoldn't squarely lay the blame with Ferrari, but they do have a habit of rocking the boat. Even Minardi and Jordan backed the Michelin runners.
So the Bridgestone teams were right to run, and Michelin, or the Michelin runners were wrong not to bring a tyre that worked, but that was what happened and so it should have be dealt with. Safety is paramount, and if Michelin say "don't run", then really the teams have no choice. The option of running slower round the final turn was nonsense, how do you police that? As a driver it would be impossible to just back off and watch the competition disappear off into the distance lap after lap, and you'd soon find yourself back to almost full speed. Also the chicane was a non-starter either as that would be almost just as dangerous.
Can't say as I know the solution, but there's something else I was thinking about. Bridgestone knew that the track had been resurfaced and that it was much more abrasive on tyres from their partner company Firestone's experience. Michelin, I expect, didn't. Michelin constructed a tyre based on the data they had collated from the past few years, but if you don't know that a fundamental variable (i.e. track surface) has changed, then how do you take that into account?
I don't think there's one person or organisation who is wholly accountable, it seems to have been a culmination of non-communication, stubbornness and stupidity that led to the farce that was Sunday's race. Forget about charging the Michelin teams, or Michelin themselves. F1 and the FIA should set about sorting out the mess they have found themselves in and finding out why it happened so that it can be avoided in the future.
Give the fans their money back, publicly appologise on behalf of the sport and maybe face can be saved.
Just a though...
Baz
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Post by Racemania on Jun 21, 2005 22:09:51 GMT
Sorry Baz I put the blame totally on FIA.
They brought in the one tyre rule extremely quickly allowing no time for development. They then prevented testing at the majority of circuits.
Bridgestone were extremely lucky, did you see their tyres at the end of a race that from the Ferarri prospective was run at 8/10th normal race pace?
Now if F1 was a 1 tyre manufacturer what would have happened if the tyre designed as a multi track safe standard developed a fault because the track surface turned out to be above their tollerances. Given the Safety issues would the FIA cancel the race... no I don't think so they would adapt.
I cant see how the FIA can penalise anyone. I remember teams withdrawing their cars when a design fault caused a failure and accident. If they fine Michelin bacause they fail to bring a suitable tyre they must then fine Jordan & Minardi because they don't bring suitable cars to any GP's
Ali
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Post by JulianT on Jun 22, 2005 19:14:41 GMT
Blaming Michelin for the race itself is unfair. It's 'after the fact'. A crisis needs to have a solution regardless of who is at fault.
There were 2 seperate issues.
1. The Michelin tyres were unsuitable.
2. less than 20 cars competing in the race.
Michelin can only be blamed for one of those, the FIA are responsible for point 2.
It was complete mis-management by Max Mosley.
Can you imagine being the director or president of a company, you have a major promotional event and one of your suppliers lets you down big time, yet you still have thousands of valued customers to keep happy. Can you imagine the customers reaction if you blame your supplier?
It is entirely on the shoulders of the person at the head of the company to do whatever it takes to make it happen.
Did you read Paul Stoddart's letter on autosport.com? brilliant!
Bernie is a businessman, Max is a lawyer, I know who I would have relied on to make the right decision.
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Post by Mike Hogg on Jun 25, 2005 18:25:18 GMT
Dunno what to say that hasn't been said - the basic point is that this should never have been allowed to happen... F1 is as good as dead in the USA now so they should probably give it up - the Americans never took to it in the 80s and 90s and doing this to them in the 00s is the final nail in the coffin.
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Post by Catriona on Jun 25, 2005 19:28:42 GMT
The whole thing was a joke... yes, it was Michelin's fault in the first place, but the FIA should have worked towards resolving the situation and allowing a meaningful race to be run, rather than hiding behind rules and regulations, and ending up killing their chances of improving their standing in America. Their loss in the end; they may not remember it, but it's the fans who pay their wages... this isn't club racing where most of the drivers and teams fund themselves: in F1 they need fans to keep the sponsors involved, and I imagine most American fans have been put off for life after that farce.
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