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sperry · 2005-06-20, 09:10 AM

While I understand the difficult situation that the FIA was placed in, I can't help but blame anyone but FIA for the farce that was the '05 US GP.

Let's break it down:

Michelin supplied a crap tire. That's their bad. Usually, that means all the Mich teams get boned 'cause the Bridgestone teams are much faster. However, in this particular situation, this was *not* a performance issue, it was a *safety* issue. Michelin did the only thing they could do, and pull their tires from the event. If someone had crashed and died, and if Michelin had known about the defect before hand... well just imagine the cluster fuck that would have been. I have tremendous respect for Michelin for doing the right thing and pulling the tires. (One more thing to note about the issue... Indy was just recently repaved, raising the speeds/loads in 13. Firestone (Bridgestone's sister company) ran their tires there for the 500. There's a good chance the only reason Bridgestone didn't have a tire issue was because they had data that Michelin didn't have.)

Now for the blame on the teams... People say "the teams could have run, and just gone slower in the turns, or changed tires over and over"... yeah right. You put a driver in a car in a race, there is *no* way he's gonna slow because they're supposed to...

All it takes is one Michelin team to push it to beat the other Michelin teams, and suddenly all bets are off and someone gets themselves killed. But that's not the important reason w/ the teams shouldn't be faulted for not racing... Michelin told them the tires are not safe... not "the tires are not safe after 10 laps", or "the tires are not safe above 100kph"... Michelin plain old pulled their recomendation for the tires. The teams simply could not race on those tires with the track in the configuration that allowed a full speed run through turn 13. They were not given a viable alternative option.

So it comes back to the FIA. I understand their stance... of course they can't change the rules just because some of the teams have crap equipment. But again, this was a safety issue. I find it *pathetic* that FIA's answer for the safety of 14 of their 20 drivers is "go slower". The FIA's total lack of willingness to even discuss the issue blows me away. At every step they seemed to stonewall any possible compromise. It's like they *wanted* only 6 cars in the "race".

Look at it this way. The FIA attempts to enforce its rules for what reason? Answer: fair competition. If the rules aren't enforced, or if they're enforced unequally, then the trophy they award at the end of the season becomes worthless. If the rules change arbitarily, then what's the point of rules? I can totally understand why they wouldn't budge. But they missed the bigger picture. What good are rules for fair competition if there's no competition!? The only race out there yesterday was to see which loser would end up on the 3rd place podium... and even then, we all knew it wasn't gonna be a Manardi, or that Karthikeyan guy...

. Essentially, the FIA's rediculous dedication to the rules eliminated the competition. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees.

But here's the real bottom line: The FIA is a business. It's a business that's having a hard time succeeding right now. They're constantly changing the rules (irony alert!) to attempt to reduce costs so that the teams can continue to afford to compete. The one market that FIA hasn't been successful in is the US market. This year's US GP had one of the largest crowds ever for a GP here in the states. So what do they do? They take a difficult situation, and totally fuck themselves with it. What's Bernie thinking? "Gee, we've got a pretty big issue w/ this tire thing... I know! How about we use it to completely alienate the US spectators that, for the 1st time in decades, we're just starting to reach!" Not the best way to run a business.

So, while the situation was caused by the poor tires that Michelin brought to the event. The problem was caused by the FIA. They could have simply added the chicane, and guarenteed the top 6 points positions to the Bridgestone teams. Let the drivers race to see who gets to stand a top the podium, but penalize the Michelin teams by only putting 2 points positions out there for 'em to race for. At least then we would have had a race.

2005-06-20, 09:10 AM	#14
sperry The Doink Real Name: Scott Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 20,335 Car: '09 OBXT, '02 WRX, '96 Miata Class: PDX/TT-6 The way out is through	While I understand the difficult situation that the FIA was placed in, I can't help but blame anyone but FIA for the farce that was the '05 US GP. Let's break it down: Michelin supplied a crap tire. That's their bad. Usually, that means all the Mich teams get boned 'cause the Bridgestone teams are much faster. However, in this particular situation, this was not a performance issue, it was a safety issue. Michelin did the only thing they could do, and pull their tires from the event. If someone had crashed and died, and if Michelin had known about the defect before hand... well just imagine the cluster fuck that would have been. I have tremendous respect for Michelin for doing the right thing and pulling the tires. (One more thing to note about the issue... Indy was just recently repaved, raising the speeds/loads in 13. Firestone (Bridgestone's sister company) ran their tires there for the 500. There's a good chance the only reason Bridgestone didn't have a tire issue was because they had data that Michelin didn't have.) Now for the blame on the teams... People say "the teams could have run, and just gone slower in the turns, or changed tires over and over"... yeah right. You put a driver in a car in a race, there is no way he's gonna slow because they're supposed to... All it takes is one Michelin team to push it to beat the other Michelin teams, and suddenly all bets are off and someone gets themselves killed. But that's not the important reason w/ the teams shouldn't be faulted for not racing... Michelin told them the tires are not safe... not "the tires are not safe after 10 laps", or "the tires are not safe above 100kph"... Michelin plain old pulled their recomendation for the tires. The teams simply could not race on those tires with the track in the configuration that allowed a full speed run through turn 13. They were not given a viable alternative option. So it comes back to the FIA. I understand their stance... of course they can't change the rules just because some of the teams have crap equipment. But again, this was a safety issue. I find it pathetic that FIA's answer for the safety of 14 of their 20 drivers is "go slower". The FIA's total lack of willingness to even discuss the issue blows me away. At every step they seemed to stonewall any possible compromise. It's like they wanted only 6 cars in the "race". Look at it this way. The FIA attempts to enforce its rules for what reason? Answer: fair competition. If the rules aren't enforced, or if they're enforced unequally, then the trophy they award at the end of the season becomes worthless. If the rules change arbitarily, then what's the point of rules? I can totally understand why they wouldn't budge. But they missed the bigger picture. What good are rules for fair competition if there's no competition!? The only race out there yesterday was to see which loser would end up on the 3rd place podium... and even then, we all knew it wasn't gonna be a Manardi, or that Karthikeyan guy... . Essentially, the FIA's rediculous dedication to the rules eliminated the competition. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. But here's the real bottom line: The FIA is a business. It's a business that's having a hard time succeeding right now. They're constantly changing the rules (irony alert!) to attempt to reduce costs so that the teams can continue to afford to compete. The one market that FIA hasn't been successful in is the US market. This year's US GP had one of the largest crowds ever for a GP here in the states. So what do they do? They take a difficult situation, and totally fuck themselves with it. What's Bernie thinking? "Gee, we've got a pretty big issue w/ this tire thing... I know! How about we use it to completely alienate the US spectators that, for the 1st time in decades, we're just starting to reach!" Not the best way to run a business. So, while the situation was caused by the poor tires that Michelin brought to the event. The problem was caused by the FIA. They could have simply added the chicane, and guarenteed the top 6 points positions to the Bridgestone teams. Let the drivers race to see who gets to stand a top the podium, but penalize the Michelin teams by only putting 2 points positions out there for 'em to race for. At least then we would have had a race. __________________ Is you is, or is you ain't, my con-stit-u-ints?