United States Grand Prix: Born 2000, Died 2005: Rest In Peace
Written by George Katinger · June 20, 2005
I tuned in this afternoon to watch the U.S. Grand Prix, and much to my surprise witnessed a six car funeral procession marking the death of Grand Prix racing in the United States.
grandprix.com: So what did the fans think of that?
planet-f1.com: Not good indeed
speedtv.com: Ferrari 1-2 in Farcical USGP
grandprix.com: Attorneys at dawn?
sport.guardian.co.uk: Sound of boos and sight of beer cans pours more scorn on sport’s credibility
sport.guardian.co.uk: Team boycott leaves grand prix in disarray and fans in disbelief
reuters.com: Indy evaluating U.S. GP future
The Michelin induced withdrawal of 14 cars from 7 teams has the internet blazing with anger and hateful comments directed towards the FIA and Michelin. Believe it or not, I don’t think we can blame the FIA for this one. All of the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of Michelin. And maybe they were out foxed by Bridgestone, which had tire feed back from Firestone on the recently repaved tracks wear characteristics from the Indy 500. I’m really not sure on that score, but I have my suspicions. And the spineless stewards and organizers who would not put on the race with a modified chicane without the FIA’s explicit approval bear the second most responsibility. More on that later.
But the reality is that Michelin came up with a crap tire. The sad part is the new batch of rubber they proposed to air lift to Indianapolis were also lacking. If the substitute tires were capable of holding up to the wear factor I believe a race would have come off. The only shining attribute Michelin can claim is squarely owning up to the responsibility and alerting their teams to the problem.
And the reason all the Michelin points leading-contending teams parked their cars is simple; liability for injuries, or worse, in the most litigious country on the planet, the good ‘ol U.S. of A. Can you imagine the consequences of a driver or spectator injury after your team was warned the tires were potentially hazardous to your health? It would effectively put open wheel racing out of business for good.
But as Josh has pointed out in his posting the most lasting damage is to the race fans and the image of F1 in this country and the world at large. Why didn’t anyone have the foresight or plain balls to authorize the chicane and proceed with the race? Whose call was it ultimately? Bernie was on hand, why didn’t El Supremo direct the race to proceed with the chicane, and the Ferrari’s, Jordan’s and Minardi’s taking the first six spots on the grid? The fallout with the FIA could have been dealt with after the race, and the fans at the track and the world wide TV audience would have seen a race. And the worst the FIA could have done is disqualified the entire field’s results, and we would have gone to the French GP with the same points as prior to the U.S.G.P.
And an entire country and market would have had the satisfaction of at least seeing the F1 circus perform, with or without valid points scoring; and next years event would not be in jeopardy. As it turns out the lack of 20 cars on the grid will open the door to legal actions up the kazoo, and the only winners will be the lawyers, as usual.
And finally, what do we do with the race results and final points tally? With Ferrari bagging 18 points they are now tied for second in the Manufacturer’s chase, with Michael and Rubens in 3rd and 4th in the driver’s title chase. Talk about a tainted result! If heaven forbid Ferrari manage to win it all again, can you imagine the fallout and controversy over those 18 points? Where all this will wind up I really have no clue, but it can’t be anywhere good for the sport.
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47 Responses to “United States Grand Prix: Born 2000, Died 2005: Rest In Peace”
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F-1 should’ve told the drivers and constructers they have two choices:
1. Race.
2. Lose all of their points.
Hopefully Michelan will be sued so bad that their ass is bloody. They absolutely and completely failed to fufill their contractual obligations — providing a race-worthy tire for the USGP.
Of course, what would you expect of a French company but total incompetence. And what should one expect of a European organization like F-1 but total disorganization. No wonder that whole friggin’ continent is going down the tubes. I’ll gladly piss on their graves.
I was appalled by the F1 Farce at Indy.
I would like to protest to the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Formula One Management and Ferrari about their refusal to come to terms with the teams running on Michelin tyres, and spoiling the US Grand Prix for us all.
Can anyone please post the relevant e-mail addresses, or better still the peronal e-mail addresses of Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone, and the Chairman of Ferrari - I believe Luca Cordero di Montezemolo still holds this dubious honour.
Better still e-mail them to me please at F1Enthusiast@FullBore.Org
David Jonathon,
How about e-mailing Michellan for being so incompetent, lazy, and arrogant for not developing a tire for Indianapolis. They’re the single reason for the farce today.
Why is anyone blaming Ferrari in all of this? They don’t make the decisions. Sure they protested for the chicane, but that isn’t why the FIA decided not to put the chicane in. In fact, the chicane proposal would give Ferrari all the points anyway. So to blame them is just as stupid as what the Michelin teams did.
The point is, the tyres were crap, that is Michelin’s fault and the teams as a result chose not to race. Actually, if anyone had half a brain (like Coulthard) they would have raced taking the inside line and worst case scenario is they would have been 3rd because only the Ferrari’s would have been able to beat them and who knows what might have happened?
In fact, even if Ferrari still managed a 1-2 and say Alonso was 3rd, he would have only lost 2 points to Schumi and not 10 like he did today. That’s stupid!
And finally, when Bridgestone had to pull Schumacher out of the Spanish Grand Prix as a result of tyre pressure lost, the exact same problem Michelin had aat Indy, where were all of you supporting Bridgestone? In Spain it was known from Friday the Bridgestone’s were bad.. there was no proposal for a chicane there to help Ferrari was there? Well of course not, because of the obvious double standard in F1.
Bottom line, if you want to a fair race you need equality and the FIA made the right decision which was to provide options within the the rules which would have given the fans a race, namely the option to race and change the tyres every 20 laps or so which would have resulted in penalties (not as bad as the penaly they got today from the fans though), but the teams using Michelin tyres (Not Ferrari, Not the FIA and Not even michelin) decided NOT to race… blame them!
Period.
No need for a chicane. Cars should conform to the track - not vice versa. All they had to do was rev limit the cars in turn 13, but then they would have lost, so they would rather just walk away leaving this mess. I didn’t like the rule changes this year. Now I don’t like the sport. A bunch of arrogant jerks. Wors than NBA players.
Damn David, you don’t know how to use Google to find the Email addy’s you need. Or for that matter where F1.com is. Come on guy you must have less anger than you profess.
I take the opposite view from George, I place most of the blame on the FIA, and possibly IMS officails for not having the gonads to tell the FIA to go to hell and put in the chicane. For the FIA to hide behind the “its the rules stupid” defense is well… stupid.
The FIA weren’t too concerned about rules when suspending a team for two events.
Will it be the death of F1 in the US? Maybe, but for sure it shouldn’t ever be at IMS. Tony George should send them packing.
BUT I hear Las Vegas calling as soon as IMS dumps them. Can you spell “street race?”
I am the furthest thing in the world from a defender of Max and the FIA, but I really think they didn’t have much choice in the matter in conforming all teams to race within the rules. The only option as I pointed out was to make it a non points paying race and put in the chicane. And that would be a stretch that would set a dangerous precedent, even though required by an unprecedented safety concern.
What would happen if half the teams come with engines that suddenly can’t develop enough horse power or top end speed in France? I know, lets alter the course to limit high speed runs and turn the race into a carting event.
But they ultimately should have figured out a way to run the race without endangering anyone’s life for benefit of all those fans who spent well beyond the cost of the ticket to come see the circus perform, only to find the “big Top” closed!Therein is the sad moral of the story; no well intentioned deed goes unpunished!
It’s all pointless.
After the biggest F*CK up in F1 history they can’t even make a comment in the local news. You know that your show’s a no-go.
USGP - RIP
They’ve tainted the market at Indy, they won’t be able to run there.
They could try a known road course, far enough away from indy that the fans can’t throw beer…
Or, and this should be the least likely - that they’ll try to make a street race somewhere that won’t please anyone.
I say we let them leave for another 10 years before they ask for our money again. They are going to lose so much money in sponsorship that they could lose a couple teams over this.
Sad Day for F1 here in the States indeed!
I was in the middle of planning a trip to Italy for the 2006 F1 Race but after this weekend those plans will be cancelled.
I can’t imagine that F1 and Michelin could not work something out, anything, to run this race with all competitors.
I would be fool to spend thousands of dollars to see F1 in Italy when they (F1) apprently could care less about their fans and the effort that goes into attending at race in this country or Europe.
Still a fan but losing respect for the leaders of F1 very quickly.
Bernie Ecclestone seems to have forgotten who pays the bills, the fans. Without a doubt, men race for ego and for the competition, but without the fans, the only people that give a damn are the competitors. Without fans, the sponsorship money dries up.
This was Michelin’s mistake without question, but Bernie did a horrible job of reacting to it. He had the opportunity to override Ferrari’s vote, and he blew it. The result was Ferrari got their way at the expense of 100,000 pissed off fans in attendance and millions of fans watching on television.
Running a race with a protesting Ferrari team a full field would have been less damaging to the sport that a race with 6 competitors and millions of angry fans who buy tickets and sponsors’ products. The damage from this debacle may be irreparable, and I blame Bernie for not having a backup plan.
What about the future of F1 here in the colonies? I left this comment posted in “Full Throttle’s” article on yesterdays crime scene and I think it’s worth repeating here.
Time to open my favorite school course, “Conspiracy 101.” Will the fiasco at Indy forge a closer bond between Bernie and Champ Cars? Any working relationship between the IRL’s Tony George and Bernie has been seriously damaged, opening the door for that supreme opportunist Kevin Kahlkhovan to step in. How, you may ask?
The Long Beach Grand Prix. KK is now the promoter. Why not a double header weekend consisting of Champ Cars and F1? The logistics of accomodating the teams would be troublesome but hardly impossible. And there would be a built-in relatively unbiased fan base to build on, as opposed to starting from scratch at a virgin track. It would also open up the possibilities of pairings at other venues as well.
The only limiting factor would be KK’s willingness to jump in bed with a series that now suffers a worse image than his own! If ultimately Champ Cars merges with the IRL or just goes the way of the Dodo, KK will still own a valuable asset in F1 at Long Beach either running independently or with two separate race (IRL & F1) events at the same location.
Intriguing, isn’t it?
Katinger’s comments are right on the money. I couldn’t agree more. I had sent my friend the exact same ‘headline’ last night - F1 2000-2005 RIP. Unfortunately, it’s true. We’ve had an uphill battle trying to get F1 established here and this just killed it. Can you imagine Vegas trying again to put on an event? Nobody will ever go near it again. I hope Bernie, Max et al spend the rest of their lives in court. The bottom line is the ridiculous ‘one set of tires’ rule that caused this. Again, Bernie’s greed.
I don’t know what all the fuss is about?? For several years, up to 2005, F1 has been nothing but races like this one. That is: Ferrari way out front and very little racing going on at all. Other than the size of the parade it was very much like most of the gp’s of a few years ago.
But the ‘05 campaign has been very compelling, and F1 has completely screwed up it’s chance interest the US market in it’s newly exciting open wheel racing.
here is the local take on things
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050620/SPORTS0103/506200361/1006/NEWS01
As aa alluded to, the real crime here is that, for a change, the F1 season has been interesting to this point. I was tuned in yesterday expecting an interesting race, based on qualifying. Instead, we saw a debacle. How about Schumi almost taking out his own teammate? A little desperate for a win, eh Mikey? It’s pathetic!!
Any news about the breakaway series that I’ve heard discussed recently?
1 the move was at the end of the white line.
2 was he has said a number of times, he hasnt given up on the championship
3 rubens has stated his intent to leave the team
4 shumi stages a near perfect deadheat finish and everyone cries “team orders” so he races his teammate hard and clean and we cry “desperate for a win”?
Didn’t Bernie say a few years ago that it was “all about the show” when he introduced all those rules changes? What happened to the show yesterday?
No need to point the finger, all involved (FIA, Michelin Teams, Ferrari) are to blame for not being able to produce a “show” yesterday.
It’s strange really. Everyone involved wants to break into the huge US market yet they go and alienate the fans here by their actions yesterday.
Hey wyzzard, do you have eyes in your head? Rubens late breaked into turn one. Michael was as tight into turn one after locking his wheels as he could get. Rubens simply over shot the turn trying trying to beat Michael to it.
I’ve been reading everyones comments, and for the most part everyone seems to be using their brains, but a few of you just can’t quite keep from sniping at anything Ferrari related. I want Bernie’s and Max’s heads on pikes, but not for what happened yesterday. They’re to blame for putting rules in place that set this nightmare up.
M-I-C-H-E-L-I-N was to blame up front. They made shitty tires. The Michelin teams then made a shitty decision. Not to race with a rev limit through turn 13. End of story.
maybe they could have the race at daytona and let nascar make the rules..
rule number 1 - no pussies so you can all go home.
The tire rule sucks! It almost killed Kimi. Where was Mr. George? It’s his track! Bernie and Max need to exit. It’s all about power. TOOO BAD!!! Refund all the money and negate the race.
Facts to consider:
1.) Indy was repaved - poorly, upon learning of the condition of the track, NASCAR put off their testing
2.) FIA didn’t allow testing ahead of the normal practice time
3.) Michelin didn’t have the opportunity to learn from the Indy 500 as did Bridgestone/Firestone
4.) Michelin worked hard at changing tire composition at the last minute
5.) FIA refused to budge on their controversial tire rules
6.) FIA refused to consider a chicane though all but 1 of the Bridgestone teams agreed
7.) FIA refused to consider the liability of Michelin and the teams
8.) FIA refused to consider the safety of the drivers; first by not compromising, then by suggesting that Michelin drivers “lock up the grid” by going very slow through a fast, banked curve.
9.) FIA refused to consider the fans - they could have put in the chicane, disallowed any points to Michelin and let the teams race for the money
10.) FIA screwed the fans, screwed F1 in the USA and should pay dearly for their intransient attitude toward race fans.
All other things aside, adding a chicane would have been a precedent setting bad idea. Imagine race teams at Daytona, Laguna Seca, Silverstone, etc. approaching track management and asking “Please re-configure a potion of your track for us. We’ve found that our car(s) (whine all that apply):
Goes to fast
Goes too slow
Over steers
Under steers
Gets dirty
Does not look good with the present camera angle
Other”
F1 teams need to live by the old drag racer’s addage “Run what ‘ya brung!”
Why didn’t Michelin bring backup tires? That’s what I want to know. And ultimately, it was the teams’ faults - they could have gone out and raced with a rev limitter on turn 13 and done this “for the fans” if they really cared so much.
The FIA should not modify its rules to accomodate other teams. The teams had a way to make the race work and didn’t want to.
jason
michelin did bring back-up tires but they had the same defect!
the was a open tire test at indy this year! according to peter windsor on wind tunnel last night, the fia had a tire test and only 2 drivers showed up!! massa and i forget the other.
so with this in mind is it still everyone but michelins fault as they claim?
if someone at michelin had turned on a tv or picked up a news paper they would have seen the problems with the indycar and nascar tests!!!!!
i guess its easier to point fingers than say ‘we screwed up’ then relesing their teams to run bridgestone tires for the race!
Sorry but the one set of tyres rule did NOT almost kill Kimi. Kimi / Michelin almost killed Kimi. Under the current FIA rules he could have pitted for a new tire and still finished in points. Enough of the liberal BS, people need to start taking responsibility for themselves in this sport. Michelin favors performance over safety, and Kimi’s tyre gave out as a direct result of his locking up and flat spotting, as well as his choice not to pit and change tyres. It’s 100% his fault, stop using excuses and pointing blaim.
FACTS THAT ARE ACTUALY LIES
2.) FIA didn’t allow testing ahead of the normal practice time
6.) FIA refused to consider a chicane though all but 1 of the Bridgestone teams agreed
7.) FIA refused to consider the liability of Michelin and the teams
Michelin did NOT bring backup tyres. They overnighted at the last minute the same set of tyres that were failing, while the rules clearly explain, and a letter from FIA dated June 1st clearly reminded Michelin that tyres should be made to last the entire race under all conditions and that a backup set of hard underperforming tyres should be brought to the race for occasions such as this. Michelin screwed up in so many ways that they should never again be allowed to provide tyres to a F1 team. Their blatent screw ups have possibly forever damaged F1 racing!
Good point from the person who says that if Ferrari works together people complain, and then when they compete vs each other they complain. When they change the tyre rules to favor the non-ferrari teams people are happy, then when Michelin can’t make the grade people complain it favors ferrari. People will just whine, complain, and make excuses no matter what happens.
chicane at turn 13 will never happen (read f1 news). they could either drive slow through turn 13, or drive through pit lane. whatever it is, michelin promised to lose all points, so why not continue? it was bascially a game of ‘dare’ going too far. michelin dared fia to disallow them changes or face six car grid (through giving fake excuses as why they don’t accept fia’s proposals, where in fact they couldn’t even continue racing), while fia dared michelin teams to retire in an all important market. it went too far till no one could back down. totally a lose lose sitution. however, if you think about the bigger picture and analyze this without being emotional or biased: (http://www.planetf1.com/news/story_20014.shtml), you knew fia did the right job.
I like George’s idea of F1/CCWS at Long Beach. Between the two series they could put out a full set of cars. The Champ cars would beat the Minardis and Midlands….
I do not believe that the problem with the tires was compound but construction.
The idea of self limiting through turn 13 was deemed to be too dangerous as 1. The drivers would not be able to resist racing. (understandable) 2. The slower cars would have been SIGNIFICANTLY dangerous to the other drivers approaching so quickly (that would have been really surprising for the Minardi and Jordan drivers - Ferrari was used to it… (grin))
Glad it’s not my ass in there. I’ve screwed up but not that badly.
i think this statement from the FIA says everything we need to know. this was sent to all teams on jume 1st 1005!
“The reason for this debacle is clear. Each team is allowed to bring two types of tire: one an on-the-limit potential race winner, the other a back-up which, although slower, is absolutely reliable. Apparently, none of the Michelin teams brought a back-up to Indianapolis. They subsequently announced they were flying in new tires from France but then claimed that these too were unsafe.”
Good ridance to Bernie and his “Euro-trash” circuit. His comments regarding women beloning in the kitchen are as bad as his series performance at Indy on Sunday. Hopefully a new series will arise form the ashes of this debacle!!! One minus Bernie and Max!!!
Do you have a link to an article that has the women-related comments by Bernie? I hadn’t heard about this…
I was at both the 1st and last US grand Prix. Both the times came back disgusted to see Schemachar winning.
This year it was sure he is not going to win, but fate seems has a sense of irony.
Probably I should only go to see a Formula 1 race if he retires.
The FIA and the race stewards should have just ignored Ferrari and put a chicane in place. After all the banking stupidity is for the stupid Indi cars and nascars not Formula 1. If Ferrai might have pulled out of the race in case that happened. So be it, we would have had a better race than what happened.
It prooves that Ferrari calls all the shots in F1 and they dont care about the fans. They want to win at any cost. Even if that involves racing among themselves.
[QUOTE]The FIA and the race stewards should have just ignored Ferrari and put a chicane in place.[/QUOTE]
When will you people get it through your thick heads that ferrari had NOTHING to do with not putting a Chicane in place.
To the fella who said that self limiting the speed of the drivers would be just as unsafe as with a chicane, then why didn’t they do it, if it was JUST as safe?
The race is unsafe for us, so we will only race if it’s unsafe for everyone, and only if every even those who didn’t make a huge mistake are slowed down due to our own problem.
At the root of this stands the blaim everyone else liberal attitude of a French tyre company.
neocar
saying that F1 cars are made to drive on flat tracks only is a joke.
your lack of knowledge on what happened and who did/said what is evedent.
josh
bernie did say that.
it was discussed at some lenght on wind tunnel sunday night.
try to catch a replay latter in the week to see it.
Josh,
Check out attached link for more Bernie!!!!
http://msn.foxsports.com/motor/story/3701634
Indy seems to have developed a magnetism for ego maniacs. The IRL is a joke. But as far as this latest clash of the egos I say “F*CK THE FRENCH”
If the USGP survives it should be moved to a road course like Watkins Glen, Sonoma, Road Atlanta, Mid Ohio, Sebring, or Laguna Seca. There are as many or more interesting possibilities for a street course. Any or all of which would probably be better suited for the GP cars and no images of mammoth empty grand stands.
There will have to be a second race on the card - a semi-meaningful race - if F1 wants to get spectators.
When there’s a chance F1 won’t race, there’s no chance that I’m parting with $.
JOSH: I can’t find the link anymore to Bernies comments, they were made the Fri. before the USGP to a local news station her in INDY. What he said was:
His reply to a question about Danica Patrick’s fourth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500: “She did a good job, didn’t she? Super. Didn’t think she’d be able to make it like that. You know, I’ve got one of these wonderful ideas that women should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances.”
He also went on to say that “if there was ever to be a female driver in F1, it would have to be someone that was beating the pants off of the boys. I would prefer to find a good looking black woman, preferably musselim or jewish that spoke spanish”
?????????????
(http://msn.foxsports.com/motor/story/3701634).
“Where was Tony George?”
“IMS should of ignored FIA & Ferrari and put up a chicane”
….and other similar comments
Tony George, IMS and anyone associated w/ IMS do not have any say in hof the F1 race there is run…they are innocent by-standers just as the fans are in this case.
Tony George put out something like $80 mil of his own cash to build th F1 circuit and bring F1 to IMS. In addition, he pays formula one $15 mil each year just come and race their cars here. The only profit that he or IMS sees form F1 is through ticket sales and concession sales.
IMS esseentialy “Leases” the speedway to F1 for the race, they have no control over any of the rules, regulations, politics or anything else for that particular event.
With all of that said, I think the stage has been set for a “re-negotiation” between Tony George and Bernie, if F1 even comes back.
Bernie is a biggot and should not be in the position to lead F1. His comments on Danica was degrading to all women. But that’s not the issue here. F1 should never come back to the states. They have done a great job of pissing off it’s fans for years. They smugly walk around charging minimum $125.00 for a poor seat and terrible sound system. They should take a lesson from NHRA and put on a class show. At least you can hear the announcer when 12,000 horsepower goes pass you at 300 MPH.
Tony George ruined open wheel racing period! he was offered a truce when the merge of Indy Leage & CART. He refused and now we have a screwed up champ cars season who can’t fill the stands. Although INDY is a monument to past heros. It stands tarnished now and may never recover it’s luster again. F1 go away! Open Wheel, bury the hatchet and re-unite. Bring back great racing to the brickyard.
Who Knew What And When?
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=3515431&nav=9TahbP6y
“They smugly walk around charging minimum $125.00 for a poor seat and terrible sound system.”
F1 doesnt dictate the ticket price, the facitlity does, in this case IMS. Tickets in the stands for the USGP start @ $75, even less for a general admission pass to the infield.
And for the Sound systems, that has nothing to do with F1 either, again, that is the facilities responsibility. I think IMS has adone a great job modifying for F1, including the addition last year of several quality speakers around the circuit in addition to to the big bull horn speakers already in place, I’ve never had to much of a problem hearing anything there.
I for one do not feel F1 should go away. Maybe Indy cars ahould go away to since they have problems? Racing is racing, and if you are a race fan, you don’t care if its NASCAR, INDY car, F1, Go-Karts, or even Lawn Mower racing! They each have something unique to offer. Unfortunately, until Bernie goes away, maybe there is no resolve possible, but to not have another USGP at IMS or anywhere else is only a further disgrace to the fans.
ITV-F1 commentator Martin Brundle’s interview with F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone on the Indy grid……….Hilarious!(yet pathetic)
http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&PO_ID=33229