FILL ME IN B4 I-

[The Ruptured Duck]

go crazy.

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?  I am refering to the US GP.  I was in Champery when it happened.  "FORMULE ZERO"  read the headlines there.  And now they are pentalizing the teams because they took safety precautions.  The FIA should be pentalized for that **** #$&%^$&#$% tyre rule.

Could someone give me a complete explanation?

[Craig.]

Its really impossible to give a complete explination as i dont think anyone really knows what happend. What happens when you leave loopholes in the rules i guess.
Basically. Michelin turned up to Indy with the wrong tyres, they did not calculate for the Banking in turn 13 correctly. How i dont know, its not like its the first race there. On friday Ralf Schumacher had an almost carbon copy of his accident in turn 13, he was ok but decided to stay out of the rest of the weekend. Then another tyre went on the other toyota. Following this Michelin ran some tests and asked to fly in new tyres for the race. This is against the rules and was asked for saturday night after qualifying. Sunday morning, the FIA say they can use the new tyres but would face action after the race, however it would be unlikely it would be severe due to the situation. The tyres Michelin then brought in were found to also be unable to handle the banking. So about 2 hours before the race Michelin tell their runners they cant race the cars round the banking, so they goto the FIA and ask for a chicane to be put in and the race be declared a non championship race. 9 team were consulted and agreed, Ferrari were left out of the meeting for whatever reason, but the FIA said no to the chicane, quite rightly, it would have disadvantaged the Bridgestone runners immensely when they had brought the right tyre to the race, and making the drivers go out for a non championship race would have been putting lives at risk like any race, but for no reason. The FIA gave the teams various options. they included a speed limit for michelin round turn 13, the opportunity to change tyres during the race at the teams discrection (this would have carried possible discipline but would have been a slap on the wrist at worse). Both those suggestions would have been for championship points and would have put on a race. Michelin said no, they wanted a chicane put in or they wouldnt race. So as you then saw, the cars lined up did the parade lap and pulled into the pits. Where this gets worse, Paul Stoddard the little weasel he is, told the Michelin teams he wouldn't race in protest, he knew Jordan would when he said it. However the Minardis staid out on the track and raced. He claimed that Jordan were to blame and he had to race. So basically we got to see two Ferrari's almost take each other out despite being laps ahead. And a Jordan on the podium.
I feel the teams should be slapped on the wrist nothing more, they were given options that would have worked and within the rules, they didnt put the pressure on Michelin to accept them. However i feel Michelin need to be punished heavily, they are the only ones to blame, i am not a Bernie or Max fan, but these guys stuck to the rules they had to. If the chicane idea came up on saturday when they knew there was a problem then maybe it would have been put in, as teams could have tested sunday morning. This is just further proof that a single tyre manufacturer is needed, i dont care who it is, a fair competition for the rights to supply them is needed. But F1 is becoming too much about the tyre, and this prooves it.

[4_Series_Scania]

Michelin did'nt provide a tyre upto the job, hence they had to advise  teams using Michelins not to run.

Don't blame F1, or the teams.

Blame the Manufacturer who produced a product inferior to what was required.

[Craig.]

Michelin did'nt provide a tyre upto the job, hence they had to advise against teams using Michelins to run.

Don't blame F1, or the teams.

Blame the Manufacturer who produced a product inferior to what was required.

so much simpler. Thanks.

[BMan1113VR]

Yah, I am fully willing to blame Michelin for that entire fiasco. What burns me even more is that it seemed to be a combination of the Toyota and Michelin setup that failed, not just the Michelins. Also doesn't Renault use a different compound tire from Michelin (after the Monaco race)?

[Craig.]

Renault use the hardest compound michelin make where optional. For whatever reason the Renaults are very hard on the rear tyres. I would imagine their traction control systems are responsible for that. Sadly it wasnt even an option for renault. It was just a flaw in the tyre, where the wall and top surface join together, that join on the michelins was just too weak to endure turn 13.

[The Ruptured Duck]

I still think that this could have been prevented by F-1 revoking the one tyre rule.  Hasn't that been the cause of several accidents this year?

True michilin ****ed up for whatever reason, but I am just sick of hearing about the tyres this year.  If michilin is not up to the job, bring tirelli in or good year.  I do like having more than one option of tyres though, so one tyre for all he teams would suck

[Craig.]

No one likes the single tyre rule. In theory it was a good idea to slow cars down. It didnt work and has made them unsafe. time to pull that rule. Also pull the points system. Its basically ensuring a championship win with only a couple of race victorys. The old system was much better. Look forward to 2008, it is essentially sending the cars back to 2001 performance and size, while also bringing in Slick tyres. none of this grooved crap.

[4_Series_Scania]

True michilin ****ed up for whatever reason, but I am just sick of hearing about the tyres this year.  If michilin is not up to the job, bring Pirelli in or good year.  I do like having more than one option of tyres though, so one tyre for all he teams would suck

Absolutely.  ;)

[Craig.]

the teams were found guilty on 2 counts of bringing the sport into disrepute. They wont find out till september 14th what the punishment will be. That is rediculous. Its highly likely that a points deduction and fine will be the punishment. How is that fair when the season will be close to wrapping up then. Renault or Mclaren might only have a 5 or 10 point lead going into this, over a team like Ferrari or Toyota, and then they get deducted those 10 or 20 points, and suddenly a team is handed the title. As much as i want a Ferrari championship, i want them to earn it. punishment should be handed out asap so the season can resume without the constant stench of this looming over the heads of the teams.

[BMan1113VR]

the teams were found guilty on 2 counts of bringing the sport into disrepute. They wont find out till september 14th what the punishment will be. That is rediculous. Its highly likely that a points deduction and fine will be the punishment. How is that fair when the season will be close to wrapping up then. Renault or Mclaren might only have a 5 or 10 point lead going into this, over a team like Ferrari or Toyota, and then they get deducted those 10 or 20 points, and suddenly a team is handed the title. As much as i want a Ferrari championship, i want them to earn it. punishment should be handed out asap so the season can resume without the constant stench of this looming over the heads of the teams.

they already got a point deduction by not racing

[The Ruptured Duck]

good point

[The Ruptured Duck]

btw-  
Why are the teams being punished?

[Craig.]

Because the FIA cant do anything to Michelin. The idea is to put preassure on Michelin through the teams.

[4_Series_Scania]

Because, Ultimately its not the FIA's problem that the teams failed to make alternative tyres available, that was something the teams should have done, but, did'nt.

The teams messed up due to a failure of goods from one of their many suppliers. It is the responsibility of the teams to source the correct equipment required for them to take part. They should have had an alternative tyre supplier, in the eyes of the FIA!

Putting it simply, the teams did'nt have a "Plan B" thus they get punished for it.

The same thing happens in industry, every minute of the day, somebody screws up somewhere along the line, it causes problems further down the chain.........