US Grand Prix -

[Treibenschnell]

Damned-est thing I've ever seen!?

I won't spoil it for those that haven't caught their TiVo yet... but wow!

[rx7gslse]

I'm going to have several extroidinarily p!ssed of coworkers... They pretty much blew their vacation to road trip out out to atch the race this weekend... And it sucked that badly!

[tailchaser]

So glad I couldn't go this year... So apalled at the behaviour of some of the fans... So very very apalled that Michelin, a company that's run tires on turn 1 at Indy for about a billion years, couldn't well, you know...

[Treibenschnell]

I have to tell you though, I was giggling and cheering on Monteiro for his third place finish! You've never seen a team be so damned happy at a finish!

Karthikeyan is gonna be a legend in India with his fourth place finish!

[Treibenschnell]

Linkie to a good article concerning the situation before the race on Sunday.

[POS Racing]

Wow I'm glad I was playing Autocross rather that trying to watch the Formula One race......

Dang I can't imagine how pissed of you would be to see just 6 cars take the green flag after getting your happy ash up to Indianapolis to see the race.

I still don't get why the FIA and Michelin couldn't have come up with a better alternative rather they just parking a vast portion of the field. Seems as if they had options available and only 1 team was bucking the purposed changes.

[Majik]

Wow, I was planning on going this year. Glad I didnt. Weirdest thing I have ever watched. Boy has F1 been interesting this year. To tell you the truth, I dont know who to be mad at. It isnt fair for FIA to change the rules. I mean imagine if you were at an autoX, and they decided to add a slalom because one guy thought his tires were not up to speed, but you had seen it without the slalom. It just isnt fair to change the course because someone cant get their sh*t together. Maybe Michelin should have been on top of their game.

[Treibenschnell]

Maybe Michelin should have been on top of their game.

Amen.

[channelmaniac]

Sounds like a battle of egos and nobody wanted to budge... sounds familiar...

Hockey, anyone? :hockey:

[onething]

I watched Wind Tunnel last night, and viewers said:

1. All F1 ticiets will be honored at the next Champ Car race (actually, I think this was a Champ car driver)
2. Tony George has to face the brunt of the fans outrage because F1 went home
3. Since the drivers didn't choose to sacrifice their lives to F1, there will be a race next time
4. The issue was not a new turn - it has been there since 1902!
5. Sue F1 - that's what made America great - 130,000 victims = class action baby!!!

A lot of the viewers said they don't like Tony George, but none of them were blaming him for the problem.

What nobody mentioned was the CART fiasco at TMS a few years ago. There were no tire issues, but we had no race. The drivers weren't comfortable, and they took their toys home. Have all the TMS fans forgotten that weekend? I wasn't even there, and I still remember it! Do you remember CART?

[Dave04]

OK... I'm hoping all involved here have either watched this or have done some reading...

Maybe not so obvious question #23482934....

Is the issue here that the tires couldn't handle the speed portion of the course and they wanted IMS to put in a chicane to slow everyone down? Or have I missed something else?

[tailchaser]

Here's the real answer...

F1 has been making Mickey-Mouse rule changes for the last few million years. There's an easy fix, but it has some political issues. A single tire supplier providing a single "spec" tire will let F1 slow the cars down as much as they want.

What's the easiest way to kick out a tire supplier? Stick them up against the wall when they have a safety issue and don't, under any circumstance, give them a way out. Will Tony George get sued by the fans? Yup. Will he more than make up for it by the suit he files against Michelin? Yup. Will Michelin be forced to break ties with F1 within the next 2 weeks? Yup.

F1 wins, as usual.

*Please re-read the above substituting Bernie Ecclestone for every occurence of the term "F1" for a more precise answer...

[Majik]

That is a little bit of a slippery slope there TC. I agree there are big politics being played, but 2 weeks? Who is going to sue Tony George and for what? It isnt his fault, altough I guess that hasnt stopped many civil trials recently huh? I just dont see why F1 would want michelin out, especially since they have so many of the teams. It is hard to make a compromise in that situation. Some people mentioned a chicane and then taking practice laps to see what it is like. Toyota couldnt do that, because they said they didnt have enough gas to go that far. So do you screw Toyota? No, it isnt their fault. There is nothing you can do in this situation. Except kick michelin out of f1, and then we are back at your scenario. So maybe you are right....


BTW Halthing I obviously do remember TMS since we talked about it last week. CART has never been the same in my eyes, and I have never been excited to watch one of their races since. This event didnt really hit home like that CART race since I was at the CART race. I will probably watch F1, in fact I know I will watch an F1 race again. I will root for Ferarri like I do every race. I really dont think it will change me, because no one except Michelin is at fault here. In the CART race, I dont blame the drivers or doctors for their decision not to race. I dont expect someone to add more danger to this sport by driving dizzy, or passing out. I do however blame CART for not holding more that one winter test session here. They should have known that this place was FAST and made an appropriate aero package for that. Instead they came one cold winter day,the tires couldnt grip and the cars were slow enough. Horrible idea to test ONCE at a new race track, especially one with this much banking. That is why I really dont care much about CART. Now the IRL thats another long novel, so well talk about that another time.

[Kestrel]

F1 wins, as usual.

tailchaser, I think you hit the nail on the head, except you missed one thing:

F1 loses it's [fragile at best] US fan base, and will never get 130,000 butts in seats at an F1 event in the States. Not that F1/Bernie really cares...

[Treibenschnell]

That's the great thing about America... the whole ordeal will be forgotten in a couple of years... thanks to the USA and its short attention spa... uh, er... what was I saying?

[Kestrel]

é I don't care who you are, that's funny! (3-Bean strikes again)

[icepenguin66]

Holy sun of a *&*%(#@ I just got back in town from that rediculous bullshit! And to think that there were many people that came from other countries to attend this race! I'm one of the lucky bastards that's only out ~$600 and 2000 miles of driving for nothing (tickets would've been $1k round trip this weekend ). I wouldn't be suprised if there is a class action lawsuit that comes up later. I better be able to trade my ticket stub in for a ticket to next year's Canadian Grand Prix.

[icepenguin66]

Sounds like a battle of egos and nobody wanted to budge... sounds familiar...

Hockey, anyone? :hockey:

Damn this sucks! I'm a hockey nut and they go on strike and no season. I drive up to the F1 race and they go on strike and only 6 guys race!

I blame FIA 100% for this nonsense. The tyre rule is the most ignorant attempt to slow cars down and level the playing field between drivers. Fuel and tyres are 2 things that should never be limited. What's next, only one tank of fuel to last the entire race?

Oh yeah, everyone in their right mind hates Tony George! That ass wants like $30k to rent the track to a club!

[Majik]

The tire rule had nothing to do with it. The failures that happened earlier in the weekend happened with less laps on the tires than would have been on them during a normal pit window. How is FIA to blame? Bridgestone brought some tires that worked. Sure seems like Michelins fault to me.

[sammm]

Sure seems like Michelins fault to me.

And so it begins...
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ar_f1_michelin