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So I was thinking maybe we could start a thread on the fallout of Indy.
Maybe keep a track of the players that lose their jobs, or the teams that lose momentum, etc.
Of course, we can always just use the space to vent.
One rule only. We're not in business here, so it is not a 'go after the problem, not the person' philosophy.
NAMES! Keep it personal.
For a start, there must be some heads rolling at Michellin - Desqualifier, or whatever?
Go ahead, knock yourselves out.
Comments
GPWC? I think this could turn out to be a watershed event where the unity of the group of 8 was tested in something other than the abstract and they held together marvelously for the most part, Stoddart was first rate for the whole sorry mess while Jordan was an absolute scab.
Goodbye Indy
Goodbye Michellin.
Could I get any more personal? This is so sad I am almost laughing.
Michelin accept blame and take the cost of flying in the Barcalona spec tyres. These tyres have an old compound and the cars would have far less running than the Bridgestone cars; isn't that penalty enough? The show could go on ...
But No, because the FIA has an alliance with Bridgestone/TOIT and the Michelin company and their teams, stakeholders of F1 for many years, have displayed vulnerability - The Pirahna pool attacks!
They've bitten themselves on the arse this time.
That race was a preview of the FIA 2008 season, and Michelin and the manafacturers now will have to break away.
Unless Max Mosely resigns.
Don't blame anyone else.
There should have been a contingency plan in place, but hindsight is wonderful.
Imagine if it was a one make tyre rule and they found a manufacturing fault with the tyres, then no cars would run.
Mistakes happen. They need to learn from this.
In all honesty, the solutions put forward either had some level of risk to the drivers, or would simply turn the race into a parade. Which would be like watching a "World Cup friendly" football game as compared to a knock out game.
Blaming Ferrari is laughable, apportioning blame to Max has merit, but Michellin, the buck stops there.
Not Ferrari's Problem.
Not Jordan's Problem
Not Minardi's Problem.
Not Bridgestone's Problem.
Not Indianapolis Raceway Problem.
Perhaps Minardi should ask for all the race tracks to be straightened, because we're only fast in a straight line.
Ridiculous.
Most of those teams could have tiptoed through that corner, and probably still have beaten Minardi & Jordan.
Their behaviour was childish, and unfair to the spectators, and viewers, and should in my opinion be sanctioned.
The teams that did race, came to the track prepared, and reaped rewards. Justifiably!
I'm just disppointed that we were off Jordan's pace.
Anyone can make an engineering mistake, and this is a competitive sport, the margins are thin. Michelin screwed up, admitted it, and then acted responsibly in the circumstances. So did their teams.
Todt, the sad soulless waste of flesh, couldn't see beyond the points he'd get (as ever). TOIT was part of the problem, because they didn't want to be part of the solution. Max jumped in to score some points in his battles with the GPWC. And as for Judas-Midland, bunch of opportunist deal breaking scum.
Fans screwed over, as ever. Stoddart was magnificent, as he usually is. His reward? He got screwed over too.
Whats with Stoddart siding with Michelin against his own tyre supplier. Putthing a chicane in that corner hands the performace advantage bak to Michelin. Their tyres will be quicker in that traction area.
Why should the Bridgestones teams accomodate their rival supplier. If Michelin want to race. Ok, but you'll have to restrict your speed through the last corner.
No one mentions that Michelin would not broke such a performance restriction on their tyres.
What a load of fuckwits.. now here's a guy who just had a tyre blow after it being dodgey since about half way through the race. The FIA didn't black flag him, because they know they can't patrol their own "rules".
But then who gives a flying fuck about the rules... the rules still say theres a maximum of 17 races in a calander year.
Plain and simple, the tyre rules brought in by the FIA make the sport more dangerous, just ask Kimi, just ask Ralf.
The bookies would have loved the event though.
There's nothing wrong with the tyre rules, Michelin just messed up big time. But these things happen, and the FIA is responsible for ensuring that the show goes on.
Fining Michelin should be the absolute minimum punishment. They should also have to refund the race promotor his costs. C'mon, Tony George put his balls on the line, and this is what he gets.
I listened to some US race fans on the radio on Friday. I was seriously impressed with their knowledge of F1. It is conceit of the highest order when you hear the Eurpen media claiming US fans don't understand F1.
Well you heard it here first folks. F1 needs the US market!
A purist would say that the Michelin teams should have simply instructed their drivers to run at a safe speed ... and that those teams had no business attempting to blackmail the organisers into modifying the circuit to suit their technical difficulties."
Richard Williams, The Guardian (he is one of the best UK sports writers and author of THE book on Senna).
He then goes on to blame Max and Bernie for screwing F1.
"Don't bend the rules for the sake of the spectacle, make them suffer and ruin the event".
re: being a miserable Pom. Nooooo, I quite enjoyed it all. I am a stickler for rules though and, no, Bridgestone shouldn't have received that dispensation at Interlagos a couple of years back.
I'm not quite sure what the correct course of action would've been yesterday. No chicane, for sure. Michelin was adamant it was a chicane or nothing - not the FIA.
It boils down to sitting at a switching station with your hand on the lever and just watching the trains collide. Max's brain has totally fossilized and I'm surprised he can stand upright with feet made of clay. Time to go sit in a deck chair.
It's no different than say adidas providing cleats which are 1/16th of an inch too long per the regulations to an NFL team and telling them they have to play in bare feet. Technically correct but ludicrous.
Viges- The networks I was talking about are the 4 American majors and if this had been on one of them the damage, if the goal is to make oodles of money on the race rights, would have set the goal back about 30 years.
My solution is to make Dupasquierre sit but naked on one of his tyres and kick his ass around the track.
PS did anyone notice that when the shit was hitting the fan, he sent his junior out to field the press' questions?
Did he know he would be speaking to racing drivers? You can't see how that was unrealistic? Build the damn chicane, and disallow the Michelin teams post race after a hearing and deal with the fallout. At minimum bring off the event.
I'm not interested in whether Michelin was at fault, that is obvious, they could have been punished without alienating anyone and everyone who bothered to pay for entrance or switch on the TV.
I blame the FIA and Michelin simple as that. Max has to go. He has fucked up too often. I am sure 100000 spectators would love to kick his ass.
Are we seeing that Michelin have lost the tyre war in a way that was set up by the FIA tyre regulations? I mean when the FIA statement refers to competitors in its statement it is not only talking about the teams but the tyre companies as well. Was this officially-sanctioned tyre company showdown always going to have this, or a similar (maybe fatal) outcome.
From DC. From Jean Todt As far as I can see the initial blame belongs with Michelin. After that however, everybody involved was looking after their own self-interests rather than looking at the big picture.
By the time Sunday's race rolled around everyone had sorted their patch and felt comfortable saying (and in most cases rightly so) WE are not responsible, it's not our fault if it all goes pear shaped. And despite that we ended up with the worst possible result for F1.
The sport is fucked at the moment. Having said that it great fun to watch, just like a train wreck.