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PS speaks out about tyres
From itv-f1.com:
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has restated his strong opposition to the 2005 tyre regulations, warning that another accident like the one that befell Kimi Raikkonen at the Nurburgring could have disastrous consequences.
Stoddart took issue with FIA president Max Mosley’s recent strictures that responsibility for the safety of the tyres lies with the teams and tyre companies rather than the governing body.
“We are going into potentially the most litigious race of the year,” the Australian told the Autosport-Atlas website.
“I have said publicly that I do not agree with these tyre regulations and I’ll state it again, because in the event of a bad or fatal situation I would not want to be one of the people responsible for bringing them in.”
Stoddart believes that Mosley cannot deflect the blame for Raikkonen’s crash onto the tyre manufacturers, since it was the prohibition on tyre changing that turned an ordinary flat-spot into a major problem.
“It was predicted before the start of the season that this would occur,” he said. “You can’t in any way blame the tyre companies; they should shoulder zero percent of the blame for what happened.
“A flat-spotted tyre is not something that has been created by either tyre compound or construction. If tyres are black and round you still have the opportunity to flat-spot them and that has diddly squat to do with manufacture.”
Nor does Stoddart believe the teams can be blamed, because the regulations put them in an invidious position of either having to wait until a tyre is manifestly dangerous before pitting, or else taking a chance that the grounds for their tyre change will be rejected by the FIA after the race.
“Practically any team and driver faced with the position that McLaren and Raikkonen found themselves in at the Nurburgring would have had no hesitation to continue,” he said.
“[That is] because of the risk versus reward for coming in to do a pit stop where you would then not know if you were going to lose any points you had scored until some time after the race, after an investigation.
“You can’t really have such a grey area over the regulations that it dissuades a team or driver from coming in to change a tyre.”
Stoddart pointed out that the current tyre rules were resisted by the teams but were pushed through by the FIA using reserve powers under the Concorde Agreement, ostensibly on safety grounds.
“How can it possibly be safe to be putting the drivers, teams, marshals and spectators in this predicament?” Stoddart said.
“It is a heavy weight on the FIA to decide at what point their regulations cross over into what is arguably a negligent situation.
“If we have another incident and are not so lucky next time, there are certain jurisdictions where it would be hard to walk away from responsibility as a governing body.
“And if, God forbid, it happens, then whatever country you are, whichever group of lawyers you are, lay the blame fairly and squarely where it belongs.
“Not even at the FIA’s doorstep but at Max’s doorstep.”
I know the point is potentially valid but do we have to be fighting with the FIA again?
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