I'm with Paul Stoddard on this one. I'm sick of the FIA [read: Mosley] baising towards Ferrari and against essentially everyone else. Furthermore, this is the 2nd year Ferrari have made a joke of themselves at the USGP by being so disrespectful towards everyone. I love Ferrari and their ability to put the smack down on the track, but it's all worthless if it's not fair racing.

 

With respect, I don't know how you get to Ferrari as the culprit. Stoddard has a bias, and can hardly be considered an objective observer.

That's why there is a separation between sport sanctioning bodies, the competitors, and commercial operators. FIA did their job and insisted on the sanctioned race being run. The sanctioning body really has little choice but to follow their rules. After all, they exist to provide the objective development and enforcement of the sport's rules.


F1 is a high stakes games, and we repeatedly see teams being "aggressive" with the rules i.e. the recent BAR/Honda issue. While the fiasco at the USGP can be attributed to the personal clashes and rivalries that exist in the sport, one can't fault FIA for doing what they are there to do or Ferrari for expecting the race to be run as sanctioned.


Mosley’s comments (on the FIA website) on the difference between sports that are entertaining and entertainment that masquerades as sport are vital. Without that distinction, F1 would become the WWE.

 

Brake dust concerns
Salo highlights potential new issue


[23/06/05 - 09:59]


111 races for Salo in Formula One
Former Formula One driver Mika Salo has highlighted a new concern to the FIA after he discovered that his lungs have accumulated brake dust, presumably over his eight-year stint in Formula One and his time in other categories before and after F1.

Salo, who started his Formula One career with Lotus in 1994, went on to question if his lungs have accumulated so must brake dust, how much more would a driver like Michel Schumacher have after his much longer spell in the sport.

The BBC report that the specifics of Salo’s problems have now been brought to the attention of the FIA and there is now a dialogue between the parties.

I always thought that this could be an issue. The announcers always talk about how sharp carbon fibre shards are and I was wondering that they may be like asbestos which I hear has a sharp structure as well. These shards would conceivably stick like little needles in your lungs. I don't know. It just sounds bad that's all

 

After sitting through three days of F1 in Montreal two weeks ago, I believe this to be a very viable concern. Sitting within about about 20 metres of the apex of the Casino hairpin, the cars come into the turn complex and break extremely hard, discs aglow...the build-up of rubber and carbon-fibre dust in the turn was very apparent as the weekend progressed, becoming airborne at times.

As a result, both Sunday and Monday morning, I was treated to an abnormal black discharge from my nostrils...



OK...my internet experience has just reached it's climax...I've now discussed my own boogers and F1 in the same post...thank you...

 

Ok ya smarmy bast*rd, Bilk me outta me hard earned quid. Well ya ken jes go get bent for driving F1 into the cesspool. Off wit yo' 'ead.

http://www.petitiononline.com/MMRFP05/petition.html

And y'all can sign it too.

 

just signed the petition, and i have to say; OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!

 

Can't wait to see the tee-shirt design that evolves from this "experience!"


Clover

 

from the indy star:

 

All the first races were pretty much dominated by Michelin...which was consedered the best tire under the new rules, and after one mistake many people are "never buying michelins (again)" I'll never buy coopers again cuzz they suck (I'm talking about cooper tires, not our beloved little sister) but yesterday I walked into an audio place and they were working on a Lambo Marceliago and it was Michelin shod....so they can't be THAT bad...

L

 

This whole story has been interesting to watch. For one, I'm not about to say I'll never buy Michelin tires. They screwed up. They know it. They'll move on. I suppose my opinion is skewed by the fact my mountain bike team is sponsored by them...

Anyway, I was sifting through a pile of old Autoweeks and happend upon an article in the April 18, 2005 issue (page 37):

Repaving, tires don't mesh

The repaving of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last fall has not met with rave reviews. Firestone had to shorten its two-day IRL test when unusual tire wear was discovered on the right side of Sam Hornish Jr's car. IMS officials planned to grind the track this week, forcing postponement of Goodyear's NASCAR tire test.

Both tests ill be rescheduled. IMS officials say they are not alarmed by the delay, and it seems neither is Firestone's motorsports director, Al Speyer, who said tracks with new asphalt often offer surprises to the tire manufacturers. Speyer admitted, however, this was a unique situation. "It's something we haven't seen before," he said, without elaborating. "We wanted to understand it."

No doubt Bridgestone had access to Firestone's testing data and were able to make adjustments... But this article alone should have given notice to Michelin that something was amiss.

 

FWIW...On the CART race tv coverage in Clevland yesterday, Derek Daly said he talked with the head of Bridgestone's CART program and said that in fact, Firestone did not share data with Bridgestone about Indy. He also went on to say that according to Bridgestone, Firestone ran the exact same tires at the Indy 500 this year.

 

I stayed up late to watch the Speed channel coverage of the US GP, despite having attended the previous week.

I particularly wanted to watch the innumerable re-runs of the Schumacher/Barrichello incident.

Derek Daly......."That was without doubt, one of the worst incidents I have seen in F1.....Schumacher should immediately be black flagged....that was disgusting.....blah...blah....blah"

Two minutes later....Steve Matchett...."Barrichello obviously left his braking too late into Turn One in an attempt to maintain his lead"

Reply from Daly..........."-----no reply----!"

I was in Montreal the week before the US GP, and witnessed, once again, a flagrant disregard for the rest of the field on the part of JP Montoya. With the safety car out, he exited the pits, straight into the field behind the safety car at Casino, nearly taking out two cars in the process, one of which was Coulthard. Now THAT was "disgusting".
Granted he was black flagged, but it turned out to be for exiting the pits under a red light. When it came up on the Jumbotron that JPM was under investigation everyone there, including the F1 announcer, Bob Constandourus, thought it was for his flagrant disregard for the rest of the field, until the red light scenario was divulged.

Mr Daly...You are best served staying with CBS and your mentally challenged co-announcer on that channel. You really shouldn't be mixing with the likes of David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Peter Windsor. You are only going to make a complete idiot of yourself.
At least on CBS they still feel compelled to play that heavy metal stuff in the background, (fine for Nascar, but they have yet to realize that F1 audiences are a somewhat different demographic). At least the heavy metal may serve to drown out your inanities!

Look at that incident again....Schumacher locked up in order to avoid Barrichello. There was no contact, and Barrichello was just not going to make that corner no matter what he did.
As I said in an earlier post...it was a racing incident.

To the mandarins at Speed. You managed to offload Rick DeBruhl, thank heavens. Don't exacerbate the problem by bringing in Daly.
Oh...heed my comments about the heavy metal, please. Although you have cut that back over the last couple of years, there is still room for improvement. The only music I want to hear is a V10 at 19,000 rpm!
Or next year, a V8 at 22,000!

 

click

 

28/06/2005

One week after the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Michelin wishes to make a sincere gesture of goodwill towards the people present at the GP, a group whose passion for F1 is encouraging in the development of this sport in the United States.

Therefore, on our own initiative and in total solidarity with our partners, we have taken two decisions:

1: Michelin has decided to contribute to the costs incurred by the spectators present at the circuit on Sunday June 19th 2005 by offering to refund their tickets. This is an important decision, since Michelin is not at all legally bound to do this.

Michelin deeply regrets that the public was deprived of an exciting race and therefore wishes to be the first, among the different groups involved in the Indianapolis race, to make a strong gesture towards the spectators.

2. Michelin also offers to buy 20,000 tickets for the 2006 U.S. Grand Prix to be given to spectators who were present at the Indianapolis race in 2005. We are offering this to promote further Formula 1 interest in the United States.

We would also like to take this opportunity to underline the fact that it is unacceptable that our partner teams have been accused by the FIA of having boycotted the Indianapolis Grand Prix. The reality is that together, Michelin and its partners have done everything possible to assure that the race could take place in total safety.

We are extremely disappointed that the proposals made with all our teams were not accepted. These proposals, including a chicane, were technically viable and totally met all safety requirements. On Sunday morning, June 19, the sporting authority had all the means necessary to preserve the interest of the race.

And yet, the sporting authority rejected the proposed solutions. Why? In our view this is totally incomprehensible and reflects a lack of respect for the spectators.

It is the spirit of respect for the spectators that brought us, with our partners, to propose solutions to allow the race to take place in total safety. It is this same spirit that leads us today to make this gesture.


Well, at least one of the culprits is 'fessing up. Now my weekend wasn't a total loss.

 

Nicely done Michelin.


Although, about halfway thourgh the article I couldn't help but think to myself - "stop whining". I mean, it's over with and you're making a goodwill gesture, stop at that. Keep the mood positive and happy in your statement, don't turn it into another forum.

Glad you guys will be taken care of - this year AND next year. Very cool.

 

This just in from the FIA Meeting:

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=33284

We'll have to wait and see what unfolds from here. For me, this whole debacle has deepened my support of the "Axe Max" side of things.

Now I'll wait for further info from Michelin on how to get a refund for my tickets.

Aaron

 

Can't follow the link - my work is blocking it. Any chance someone would be willing to post it up? Or is it pretty lengthy? If so don't worry, I'll check it when I get home.

 

Formula 1's seven Michelin-shod teams will head into this weekend's French Grand Prix uncertain of their fate after being found guilty on two counts of bringing Formula 1 into disrepute by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris.

The FIA has announced that it has adjourned discussion of any penalty for Williams, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BAR, Red Bull and Sauber until an extraordinary meeting of the World Motorsport Council, to be held on September 14.

The seven teams were called to Paris on Wednesday to give evidence to the FIA's WMC after they withdrew en masse from the race at Indianapolis on safety grounds following a series of Michelin tyre failures over the US GP weekend.

A week of recrimination and politicking between the FIA, the teams and Michelin followed before Wednesday's hearing.

The teams were found guilty of failing to ensure that they were in possession of suitable tyres at the US Grand Prix.

It was also ruled that the teams were guilty of refusing to allow their cars to start the race because they had a right to use the pitlane on each lap.

The teams were cleared of all other charges against them.

These included refusing to race at Indy with speed restrictions at Turn 13 and combining to make a deliberate demonstration of not racing because they had the intention to race up until last minute

They were also found not guilty of failing to inform stewards not to race for the same reason.

 

How the heck could they impose such ruling on the teams? The teams did the right thing by backing out of a potentially deadly situation.. As much as they all wanted to race, their safety concious minds took over and made the best decision.. FIA should retract those rulings and bite their own lips...

 

I 100% agree with you Maximusmini. The FIA says they have to punish the teams since they have no contract with Michelin. I feel that with Michelin's offer to refund tickets and buy tickets for next year (which will cost millions), the matter should be closed.
That's more of the FIA's hypocritical thinking: we want safety, but we also want to force the teams to run on unsafe tires, and we'll punish the teams for erring on the side of safety.

 

Thanks for the article.

WOW.

 

Latest update:

MICHELIN TEAMS TO APPEAL GUILTY VERDICT
Last Updated: Wednesday, 29, June, 2005, 18:56 Six of the seven Michelin teams found guilty of bringing Formula 1 into disrepute at Wednesday's FIA World Motor Sport Council hearing are to appeal against the verdict.

The manufacturer-backed teams McLaren, Williams, Renault, Toyota, Sauber and BAR all claim they were innocent parties in the US Grand Prix fiasco where they withdrew from the race instead of competing on tyres Michelin warned were unsafe to use.

According to a joint statement, the six teams, which does not include Red Bull, claimed they were "very disappointed" in the WMSC's decision after the hearing in Paris.

After today's hearing, the FIA announced that no punishment would be decided upon until a further meeting on September 14, but the teams feel there are no grounds for penalties.

"The teams explained to the World Motor Sport Council that, in the light of the clear and written advice from Michelin that it was unsafe to race at Indianapolis on the tyres supplied by that company, the teams had no choice but to decline to race," the statement read.

"Any other decision would have been irresponsible."

The teams were found guilty on two counts - failing to ensure they were in possession of suitable tyres and wrongfully refusing to allow their cars to start the race.

They argued that they had asked Michelin to provide the correct tyres and that the French company had made a mistake.

"The teams point out that they reasonably relied on Michelin, an approved FIA tyre supplier and a highly reputable manufacturer of tyres worldwide, to provide suitable tyres for that race," they said.

"As Michelin have already acknowledged, they were responsible for the supply of unsuitable tyres for the Indianapolis circuit.

"The FIA's decision accepts that there were "strong mitigating circumstances" for the teams.

"In truth, those circumstances provided a complete answer to the charge, given that the teams cannot be held responsible for what occurred."

The six teams also made the case that, given they did not have safe tyres to use, the only safe course of action was to elect not to take part in the US GP.

"The charges suggested only one means by which the teams could safely have raced (the use of a speed restriction)," explained the statement.

"On that charge, the teams were found not guilty.

"The teams cannot understand how they can be found guilty by reference to another proposed solution, which was not part of the charges brought against them, which was not suggested by the FIA at Indianapolis, which was considered unsafe and which, in any event, would not have achieved a satisfactory race for the fans."

For a full trancript of the WMSC verdict click here.

For a full trancript of the teams' statement click here.

 

So what's Red Bull doing? Just bending over?

 

Apparently Red Bull showed up with a knife at the gunfight. It was the only team not represented by counsel at the hearing. (chorus of Duhs!) The team is apparently "evaluating their options" but typically, the FIA and Ferrari are attempting to drive a wedge between the solidarity of the M7, as Red Bull will be running customer Ferrari lumps in their '06 sleds.

Hmmm, the plot thickens.

 

They are trying to drive a wedge between the solidarity of M7??? JK

Here's what I found out about Michelin recently, the company actually owns Citroen and Peaugot...one year, (some time ago) they wanted to come out with a Citroen to take on Mazarati, but knew that it would fail miserably...they did this to write off their earnings from the the sales of tires...the french govt turned that down so they never did it...bottome line, 10-12 mil written off of their earnings for 2005 will actually help Michelin, not hurt them, so they are really playing this well...

L