F1 What is going on.

[lhatkins]

Well I guess anyone that is a fan of this sport is probably wondering what the hell is going on? Cos I am.

A 6 car race (ok well only 2 really), what a stupid situation.

You would think that all the brains around they could come to a sensible and adult agreement, aparantly not. Its so childish, like kids a playground trying to decide on rules, I'd be frankley embarrased to be a part of F1 right now.

Just let them change the bloody tyres, or modify the track and just be done with it.

This is what happens in a Blame Conture, bureuprats have killed a sport, what a complete farce.

Welcome to the modern world, hope you enjoy it.

 

[Dev]

Take a look at this .

Well, they had to ensure that Ferrari win at least one race this season.

But seriously, what a balls up. Another example of the shear farce that is F1.

 

[LiloLee]

I turned off once I saw they all went into the pits. I bet there are going to be lots of lawsuits from punters over there.

 

[LiloLee]

Oh and what just as bad was that when Baricello looked to challenge Schuie he was told to pull back.

 

[GAZZ]

Power struggle between the manufacturers and Bernie Ecclestone was the cause for the excuse of a race.

 

[ilockyer]

Absolute farce. Whether or not Ferrari or anyone vetoed the idea of a chicane is irrelevant, as I understand it the FIA rules wouldn't have allowed them to implement it even if the drivers/teams had wanted one.

Michelin's mistake has cost their clients dearly, and I'm sure will cost them heavily too, but Bridgestone and their teams should not be penalised for a competitors failure. F1 may be a sport, but it's ruled by big business investment and I can't see that Bridgestone would have been happy to see their customers agree to a change in racing infrastructure for a one-off event in order to give their competitors a chance to compete when it's their competitor who's product has failed in the first place.

 

[tones]

They wanted F1 to succeed in the USA. I guess that's the finish of that dream.

 

[lhatkins]

Absolute farce. Whether or not Ferrari or anyone vetoed the idea of a chicane is irrelevant, as I understand it the FIA rules wouldn't have allowed them to implement it even if the drivers/teams had wanted one.

Michelin's mistake has cost their clients dearly, and I'm sure will cost them heavily too, but Bridgestone and their teams should not be penalised for a competitors failure. F1 may be a sport, but it's ruled by big business investment and I can't see that Bridgestone would have been happy to see their customers agree to a change in racing infrastructure for a one-off event in order to give their competitors a chance to compete when it's their competitor who's product has failed in the first place.

So you agree with what happened then?
It maybe business, but first and foremost its a sport that has fans, you upset the fans by pulling this type of stunt and they'll be no business, you have to give the fans what they want, and what they wanted was a race, one way or another, yes there was a huge cock up, but why should the fans suffer?

Maybe they should have postponed the race rather than let it continue like that, until the tyre problem had been sorted out.

 

[ilockyer]

So you agree with what happened then?
It maybe business, but first and foremost its a sport that has fans, you upset the fans by pulling this type of stunt and they'll be no business, you have to give the fans what they want, and what they wanted was a race, one way or another, yes there was a huge cock up, but why should the fans suffer?

Maybe they should have postponed the race rather than let it continue like that, until the tyre problem had been sorted out.

I don't agree with what happened at all, but don't see it fair that 3 teams should be penalised because their competitors bought a component which turned out to be unsuitable.

I just don't see that there was really an alternative to what happened, other than postpone the race, and to do that would hit the likes of Minardi, Jordan etc. really hard as they probably would struggle to find the resources to make another trip stateside, if the calendar would even permit such. To have run the race, with a chicane, as a non points scoring race would've been fruitless since it'd only really be an exhibition and not a proper Grand Prix. The American public with their love of lawsuits would've had a field day with that.

A postponement of the race would've been a good solution, but they'd have had to find another weekend for it, refund all those fans who wouldn't be able to make the other date, and it's highly unlikely they'd want to do that.

Whenever anything like this happens in sport, it's always the paying punters that suffer. I'm not even sure that they'll refund anyone who asks for it, because the race started with a full grid (the formation lap counting as part of the race). Had they not gone onto the grid, I believe the race could've been pulled because there were less than 12 participants. That may have been a better option.

 

[Sid and Coke]

Does anybody think that the other teams would have pulled their own races if Ferrari/Bridgestone had a tyre problem....

Hmm... I agree with you all, I doubt it either.

They didn't do their homework, they didn't have the right equipment for the job, nobody forced them to use their chosen tyre manufacturer, tough titty - thats racing....

I only feel really sorry for the US fans, some of them had travelled thousands of miles to watch that race.

Surely now (and especially after the Ferrari debacle at the finish line a couple of years ago) F1 must be finished in North America...


This season looked to be so promising at the start too...

 

[Stuart]

This race was scheduled for 0330 local time here. I woke up this morning looking forward to watching a good race, only to realise I'd not set the video. Very grumpy. At least 'till I logged onto AtlasF1 to see the (non)result.

This was utter stupidity.

Bottom line is that F1 is first and foremost a business (showbusiness) and a sport second. Once it was clear that the Michelain tires were unsafe to race, all parties (teams, FIA, FOM) ought to have been able to agree a compromise situation to allow the full grid to race. Whilst I have symathy for the 'rules is rules' position, I believe that the FIA etc. need to be somewhat flexible to cope with a safety issue that effects the vast majority (70%) of the field.

Today, politics prevailed over common sense. This can only further strain relations between the FIA/FOM and the so called G9 teams and their partners.

Regards,

Stuart.

 

[wolfgang]

Just read about this. IMHO those State side fans were wrong because what they have seen was the BEST Grand Prix yet.

It is not their fault as they are too new to this spectacle but if you have been watching for the past years, according to the tradition of this wonderful sport that is F1 ever since as presided by Ecclestone and Mosley they should know by now that unlike most other sports F1 the actions on the track are just a small part. The real spectacles are what happen outside the race days. The real battles occur before and afterward. To make it even more interesting the action occur behind closed doors. The teams have to fight the most severe and bruising battles around the set of rules as laid by the apparently all powerful governing FIA. They appear very complex and mysterious. It changes every week.

There are very many theories what are the main objectives or motives for these rules. The most consistent suggestion has been there is only one. That is the RED team must win all the time.

What we have witness was the best yet. The teams came. The actions started early during practise laps and qualifying day. There were sweats, tears and even possibly blood. Lots of tyres exploded. One driver even required emergency medical care. The battles were indeed fearsome. What happen later was fast & furious. Suddenly it was clear who the front runner was. FIA officials finally sit back and enjoy the view. RED has won yet again. Order restored.

 

[tones]

Excellent, Wolfgang, had a good chuckle at that (even if it's really too true to be funny).

 

[Dev]

All very amusing I'm sure, but as a Ferrari fan I feel compelled to point out that not so long ago, Ferrari spent over 2 decades (yes it's not a typo) in the doldrums without winning either the Manufacturers or the Drivers Championship. Where was this conspiracy then?

 

[greg]

The two Toyota's crashed, Michelin were unable to recreate the situation in their tests, it's possible the Michelin's werent solely to blame, but the two accidents forced them to limit their guarantee. I'm not sure this could be seen as a power struggle.

The objection by Ferrari to the chicane is understandable. The decision of the FIA not to allow the chicane is, I think, adhering to the rules in the face of enormous business pressure - afterall they have lost a substantial commercial opportunity in order to stick to their own rules which I think is dilligent but disappointing to race fans.

Now the decision of the Michelin teams to pull out rather than limit their speeds at that corner is where the power struggle raises it's head... either they made a decision purely based on health and safety, or their legal advisors told them they shouldn't race without tyre gaurantees, or they colluded to use this opportunity to their advantage.

In the circumstances I think it's hard to say what would have been the best course of action.

 

[lhatkins]

I think they all should have ran and taken the chance, I mean for pete's sake is a dangerous sport, if they don't have the metal to deal with it, maybe they should take up Golf, I know DC was up for racing, they should have let the drivers make the choice, see which ones are brave enough to take the gamble.
I can't beleive people are sticking up for the Bridgestone booted racers, ok so they're product didn't fail, but you need a full grid to race or else its a non event, and I seem to remember Ferrari taking 2 different sets of tyres to last years race when they where between cars that also was against the rules, but allowed to continue, so sorry my heart doesn't bleed for them, they've bent enough rules, also passing under a yellow flag last year at the Indy race, which was never picked up.
But then this is a bit of a Micky Mouse track, non of the drivers like racing on it anyway the best thing they could do is strike this one of the calender, if the USA are serious about F1 they'd build a proper track, ie China, Bahrain, I'd not be upset if F1 leaves the USA, and like I heard someone say " the USA doesn't understand F1 anyway", ya its because it has corners, they don't get thet.

 

[leonard smalls]

Wusses.
Wouldn't have had this in Fangio's day

 

[greg]

I can't beleive people are sticking up for the Bridgestone booted racers, ok so they're product didn't fail, but you need a full grid to race or else its a non event

I'm not sure if you include me, but I'm not sticking up for Ferrari, I'm just saying I understand their position - why would they capitulate to the competition when you have a clear advantage and the rules are in your favour. I understand they might have brought additional pressure to bear on the FIA if they backed the Michelin shod teams, but they are entitled to want the race to remain as is.

As such they came away with a 1, 2 win for their season without their main rivals featuring in the points. Clinically speaking they made the right choice. In the spirit of racing the whole thing is very sad.

 

[badchamp]

I think they all should have ran and taken the chance, I mean for pete's sake is a dangerous sport, if they don't have the metal to deal with it, maybe they should take up Golf,

There's being brave and there's being stupid not sure which drivers racing would have been TBH. Ralfs incident didn;t look pretty! I think that part of the issue also involved spectator safety, libility claims could potentially have been huge.

Personally I can't see what the problem was with the chicane/ no points for michelin cars solution

 

[avanzato]

I think they all should have ran and taken the chance, I mean for pete's sake is a dangerous sport, if they don't have the metal to deal with it, maybe they should take up Golf, I know DC was up for racing, they should have let the drivers make the choice, see which ones are brave enough to take the gamble.

If it's bad now can you imagine how much worse it would have been if one of the tyres had failed and one of those 'brave' drivers has slamed into the wall... then if he had died... or worse the car hit a race marshall... or maybe killed a spectator.