F1 Weekend!
For those few of us in the United States that actually pay any attention to F1 racing Sunday was a prime example of why the rest of the country doesn't. The sport has never been able to grab any sort of share in the world's biggest sport market because of a few factors. The most important is that we have a large amount of home brewed motor sports Nascar, CART, etc... F1 to Nascar is somewhat akin to a game of chess to playing cowboys and indians. In oval racing there are constant lead changes, contact, and rednecks that spray beer everywhere when they win. F1 on the other hand, while exciting for the speed and turns, has very few passes and when contact is made usually things fall apart.
A little backing on what happened. Apparently Michelin decided a couple days before race day that the tires it had provided the 7 teams using their make with were unsafe on the speedway. Various different compromises were considered, the most popular of which seemed to be installing a chicane on corner 13 to slow the cars. From looking at this it seems like a fairly easy thing to do, so why not?
Well for the better part of the year the teams running on Bridgestone tires have been consistently behind because their tires just weren't up to the quality of the Michelin teams. Now that the shoe's on the other foot they should modify the track? That's insane. For those of you who need an analogy consider this. New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles in the 2005 Superbowl. Eagles forget to bring their gear. So we can still play, but umm... no tackling. Instead just ask the opposing player to stop politely... but firmly.
A lot of people are blaming Ferrari and the FIA, which quite honestly I consider retarded. Blame Michelin. This is 100% their fault. Their sole responsibility is making a tire that will last the race. They failed and they shuttled the blame in every direction. Blame the other 7 teams. They could have raced with speed restrictions in turn 13 but that wasn't good enough, because they couldn't win like that. Well, bitch at Michelin, not at anyone else. They could have raced for points but instead they pulled a Tyson and refused to even give it a go.
Congrats to all of F1 though, I'm sure this does wonders to the North America battle versus Nascar. I expected a fantastic race and ended up with a feeling that I had been a fan of a really large European go-kart league.
Comments
Excellent rant, Bane. I think the bulk of the blame should be on Michelin. I also think that the teams showed their true colors when they opted to not drive rather than take the speed restrictions. They basically said to hell with all of the people.
I think the teams did right.Racing and speed restrictions kinda dont go together since a race is about being as fast as possible. Michelin should have been able to provide good tyres or the FIA should have modified the track. And i cant blame Ferrari either. F1 is about winning and it was an easy win for them.
I don’t think it’s up to the FIA to modify the track. Michelin screwed up. Had it been Bridgestone that screwed itself so bad and Ferrari had to drop out I’m betting no one is this upset. Had it been Bridgestone do you think anyone would have allowed a chicane set up so Ferrari’s cars could run without restrictions? I find it difficult to believe that Michelin is even trying to shift the blame to be honest, but reading around at fan sites and the like it really amazes me when I see people blaming Ferrari for this. Why should they agree to a modification of the rules that hinders them because they were the only ones prepared for the race?
Bane,
You wrote:
“I don’t think it’s up to the FIA to modify the track.”
Well, it should be up to the FIA to make sure there’s a race. If that means they have to make an executive decision and change the track, or change the tire rules, then so be it.
“Michelin screwed up. Had it been Bridgestone that screwed itself so bad and Ferrari had to drop out I’m betting no one is this upset.”
You’re right, but only because a race with 16 cars, all of them contenders, would have been a lot more interesting than a race with 6 cars, only 2 which were contenders.
I do agree, though, that it’s silly to blame Ferrari: they were just trying to get the best results for themselves, and this season, they need to take ‘em however they can get ‘em.
The problem with blaming Michelin, though, is that, when it comes down to it, Michelin is just a tire supplier. They were caught off guard, true, and, sure, we can say its their fault, but for me the problem is that there wasn’t really a race. It is the FIA’s fault for getting into a situation where their major tire supplier is unable to bring proper tires to a major race. It is the FIA’s fault for not taking charge of the situation and making a decision that would ensure a race with a full field.
I know that it would have been unfair to Ferrari and the Bridgestone teams if the FIA had put in a chicane, but NASCAR makes borderline unfair decisions like that relatively frequently and, in general, no one complains because those decisions actually make for better (and safer) races.
I also think this incident illustrates the benefit of having only one tire provider for a racing series: trying to compete in the tire department leads to situations where the tire manufacturers push the envelop just a little too far to get that extra edge. That little extra edge isn’t worth ruining a race (or an entire series) over.
Stupid French people….
Michelin tires are like the best ever…but they are still french…
I love french kissing…..mmmmmmmmmm
PS..thanks for helping me alot man!
Some good points Jon. The big thing for me is that Michelin is supposed to have 2 sets of tires. One for full on racing and one for safety. If they had done so there would still have been a race. I also find it hard to forgive them because they ARE just a tire supplier. They have one job, make a tire to work that track. That is a famous turn, the fastest in F1. They certainly should have been aware of the problem and testing for it.
The Michelin teams were given a choice to race with restrictions. There would have been a race had they wished to compromise however they didn’t. So if you want to blame someone for not racing why not them? They would have lost sure, but at least they would have gotten points. The political gain outweighed the need to race I suppose.
I do agree with you though. There needs to be a better governing process. Maybe if those teams make the split something comes out of it. Either way no easy task repairing their image in the states again.
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Jun 21, 2005 3:41 PM
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I don’t think it’s such a clearcut case of Michelin being in the wrong. Yes, they didn’t bring good equipment, but the problem at the US Grand Prix was really a symptom of the FIA’s relatively weak power when compared to a governing body like NASCAR.
In F1, the governing body has to play power politics with the teams, the manufacturers, and even the tire suppliers.
But in NASCAR, the governing body calls all the shots. They have ultimate, buck-stops-here power. NASCAR has sometimes abused this power and made boneheaded (and borderline unfair) decisions, but, in general, it gives them the control they need to keep putting on quality, competitive races.