WTF, comments please!

 

You're being awfully generous calling it a race. Idiots!

 

How about " Ferrari test session"

 

Yeah, and then Michael almost takes out Rubens coming out of the pits! I think it all goes back to the stupid rule of using one set of tires through practice, qualifying and the race. Stupid!

 

What a major disappointment. I have been waiting to watch an F1 race during normal viewing hours. Last week was great, this week was a bummer.

 

As much as this was a disappointment, it wouldn't dissuade from ever purchasing Michelin tires or ever watching F1 again.

 

Wow... I DVR'd it and just got around to watching it. What a disappointment. But, as disappointed as I am, I can't imagined how upset the fans are that actually made the trek to Indy to watch the race in person. I went last year, and if this had happened then, I would have been furious!

I don't know how to feel, though. I mean, it was a simple mechanical defect. That happens all the time. In this case, it unfortunately affected more than half of the field, and was so severe that it could endanger a driver's life. I don't think anything could've been done differently (other than for Michelin to have provided good tires to begin with). I can't place fault on anyone other than Michelin, but at the same time, I respect them for stepping up and admitting that the tires were not safe.

It's just disappointing.

 

I heard on Wind Tunnel that out of the sixteen Michelin teams only two tested at Indy . Why should F1 change the rules when a manufacturer does not do their homework.Is it any surprise they brought the wrong tire? When in that situation the right thing to do would be to either slow down and make your tires last or to change tires and accept the penalty.Putting in a chicane is ridicoulous, nullify all testing and qualifying and start a race without any practice or qualifying? Michelin had to know that F1 would not be changing the course. Why even get in your car and run the warmup lap? Rather than be smoked by Bridgestone, Michelin chose to go home.What a bunch of losers, real racers race with what you have and find a way to make it work. Michelin owes all fans a huge apology. They also need to quit blaming everyone else and accept their own mistakes. I also learned Michelin is a french company.....Conspiracy theorists there you go.

 

Just a few things that I have learned today for everyone to chew on...

Michelin had the defective tires shipped back to France after Ralph's crash and they could not identify the problem.

They shipped out tires to all teams yesterday that were the same as were used in Spain. Today, through testing, they were able to duplicate the failure so going to the backup tires and starting in the back wasn't an option.

This morning 9 of the 10 teams agreed to add the chicane in turn 13 to reduce the high speed load on the tires that appeared to be the problem. Anyone want to guess who was the only team to refuse. Before anyone gets excited, I'm not blaming Ferrari in any way - they have had there own tire issues with Bridgestone and have had a tough year but they had every right to expect to race the race as is. However, theywere the only ones to not cooperate.

The FIA (F1 governing board) refused to add the chicane and said that if they did they would not sanction the race.

Both the Jordan and Minardi teams (the two worst teams in F1) aggreed with the other teams on Michelins to pull out of the race. It was only when Jordan kept their cars out that Minardi felt pressured into staying out as well. Apparently Paul Stoddart with Minardi was furious over this.

I find fault with many in this case. Michelin screwed up royaly by not providing a viable tire for the event but at least they stepped up and did the right thing by putting the safety of the driver first and foremost and admitted they had a problem.

The FIA screwed over the fans and the future of F1 racing in the US (like they didn't already have a problem) as well as all other open wheel racing. Their refusal to consider a compromise was idiotic.

And finally, the single tire rule put in place this year is insane! How many times do we have to see drivers put into dangerous situations just to try to save a little money on tires in this billion dollar business. Absolute BS and they are going to either kill a driver or the series at this pace.

Today was indeed a sad day in the history of Formula One racing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

 

They put a lot of miles on their Friday/Saturday testing tires, sometimes a full race distance worth. Only two cars had failures with their practice set of tires, both on the same team, which means it could be car related.
I think it they should have tried to race and if some of the cars start having failures, then make a decision to either slow down through 13 or quit. It would suck if a driver got hurt but that is part of the risk of racing.