Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dean
The gotcha is that from what I understand, there is no rule allowing any of the above. Chicane, practice laps, etc. And like the letter says, it would be unfair to the other teams that brought usable equipment.
The FIA would have been crucified if it had not followed it's own rules, and maybe that was what the 7 teams and Michelin were really hoping for from a political perspective.
I realize it was no grand prix, but the fault lies with the competitors, and equipment suppliers, not the track, or sanctioning body.
And I'm sorry, these are professionals. If you tell them to drive slowly, and they don't, you fire their ass, or get the programmers to slap in a speed limiter. 
If I tell someone I am paying 6-8 figures a year to drive my car to go out and lose with dignity, then they better damn well do it. I have no sympathy for any of the 7 teams, or Michelin. They F'd up, and rather than losing with dignity, they took there toys and left. Not very professional IMHO. |
NASCAR changes the rules mid-race all the time. They take flak for it, but the spectators get a good race. Plus, the solution I proposed means the teams that did show up w/ the proper equipment still get the top six points positions! The official results would be exactly the same as they are now... but at least there would have been a race!
Now, I'm not absolving the teams from any wrong doing. The way they took the warmup lap then parked was clearly a ploy to make FIA look bad in front of the audience. However, the teams tried to come up with a solution and a compromise so they could run, and FIA just gave them the finger in response.
What would FIA have done if both tire manufacturers had realized there was a problem? Just had an empty track on TV for 2 hours? Rules are rules, true, but when you're the sanctioning body, you make up the rules! I have a hard time understanding how guarenteeing the top 6 points positions to the Bridgestone guys, but letting everyone race for the glory is a worse decision than what they ended up doing. So what if FIA gets "crucified" for changing the rules to adapt to the situation? Those fuckers pretty much just destroyed F1 in America. And the next race is in France... what do you think the fans are gonna do at the next GP that's being held in Michelin's home country? You think you saw a lot of trash on the track at Indy...
How could the chicane solution have left F1 worse off than it is now?
And I don't understand how you can blame Michelin or the teams. Yes, they brought a bum tire. They only figured it out at 5am the day of the race. What do you suggest they do? Just go ahead w/ the event and get someone killed? The mistake was an honest one, and the decision to stay off the tire in response was the correct decision. What made this a fiasco instead of a footnote was 100% FIA's reaction to the situation. Everyone but them attempted to make sure a race occured, and FIA stonewalled them all.
As far as telling the drivers to back off and expect them to... that's bullshit. Those drivers are paid *because* they're competative. They're paid *because* they're fearless. If you want a driver that will go slow, put an engineer in the car. If you want to "lose w/ dignity" then you park the car... and that's exactly what happened. As a team manager, there's no way I'd bother sending my car out there on unsafe tires w/ instructions to "go slow". I park it. I'm not gonna risk my driver, or my equipment when there's nothing in it for me. With the chicane deal, at least I can race for the remaining 2 points positions, I can give my driver a shot at victory, and I can race to get my sponsors some TV time.
F1 is dying, and FIA is the reason... this issue is just a symptom of the disease.