F1 Disaster

For years, Formula One racing has been trying to win the hearts of American fans. A while back, there was a race in the US, but it was short-lived. The closest race most years has been the Canadian Grand Prix.

A few years ago, they started one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. F1 races are all road courses, as opposed to the oval tracks that dominate both NASCAR and Indy Car racing, so IMS had to be modified to accommodate the series. The F1 track twists and turns through the infield, enters the oval just before turn 2, goes through turn 1 (the F1 race runs clockwise, the opposite direction of the Indy 500), and re-enters the infield at the end of the main straightaway, just short of turn 4. The stretch on the oval is the fastest in the entire F1 series because of the banked turn and because no other track has an open stretch anything near that long.

On Friday, Ralf Schumacher crashed in practice when one of his tires failed. Schumacher's teammate, Ricardo Zonta, also crashed because of a tire failure. Michelin tried to determine why the tire failed, and when it couldn't, warned teams not to race on them. Michelin asked F1 to install an obstacle in turn 1 to slow the cars down, but F1 said no. F1 also does not allow cars to change tires after qualifying, so, to make a long story short, all the teams using Michelin tires decided not to race.

However, they didn't just not show up on race morning. They made a big spectacle of deciding to withdraw. All 20 cars ran the warm up laps, and then the 14 cars on Michelin tires pulled off just before the start. The drivers got out of their cars while the remaining six started (and finished) the race.

Fans were in shock. Michael Schumacher, the greatest driver in the world, won the race, but was somewhat embarrassed to have won that way. In fact, everyone on both sides who were quoted a day later were embarrassed. Fans threw things on the track. Many demanded refunds. The podium ceremony was cancelled. And the real damage is that any chance F1 has of ever being popular in America has been killed.

F1 and IMS have not made any decisions regarding refunds. Also, IMS is considering its options as to whether or not to ask for a refund of its sanctioning fee from F1 and whether or not F1 will race again at Indianapolis.

FIA and Michelin are now in a pissing match that Michelin cannot win. FIA is correctly blaming the company for bringing inferior equipment to Indy. Michelin tried to get the rules and/or the track changed so that its teams could compete. That would be ridiculous, of course. You don't change rules the day before the race, and you certainly don't change the track. Michelin said its teams could not run safely on its tires. FIA pointed out that the three teams running Bridgestone tires were fine and that it is not responsible for making sure each team has suitable equipment. It's not like the track changed this week. It's the same one they've used at Indy for all five years of this race.

The exchange of letters between F1 and Michelin the weekend of the race is posted on the FIA website. There are links to further correspondence as well. FIA is the F1 governing body.

There will be a hearing in Paris on June 29th to determine what penalties, if any, the Michelin teams face for their actions at Indianapolis.