Indy: Hey, F-1, don't let the door hit you on the way out

zod

Goodbye, Formula One.

Good riddance, Bernie Ecclestone.

Au revoire, Michelin.

Ciao, Ferrari.

What we witnessed Sunday (or in my case on TV from Detroit, where I was supposed to cover Game 5 of the NBA Finals) was not only a monumental disgrace to the sport and everybody involved in it, but it should spell the end of the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis. And, we’re quite sure, the United States.

Remember how F-1 boss Ecclestone complained Friday that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway folks don’t do a good enough job of selling his race to local motor sports fans?

How would he propose to sell a race next season?

The United States Grand Prix: This time, we think they’ll show up!

Let me roll out the thesaurus.

It was a fiasco.

It was a debacle.

It was reprehensible.

Unless you’re a lawyer, in which case, it’s a godsend.

As badly as I feel for the locals who got ripped off, I feel worse for the thousands who spent even more money traveling from all over the world. Some of these people made their summer vacation plans around this race. Refunding the ticket price wouldn’t come close to making this right for our foreign visitors.

Simply stated, this race is done. Forget what the contract says about future events. The Formula One gang has lost all its credibility with the American market, and has torn apart every relationship it needed to make this thing succeed.

It was bad enough that F-1 came into Indianapolis six years ago acting like they deserved to be treated like royalty. Drivers, who could not be seen mixing with the hoi polloi, were completely unavailable to fans. And F-1 officials generally treated everybody, including the local media, like a mere nuisance.

It was bad enough three years ago when Ferrari staged one of its “managed’’ finishes, with Michael Schumacher slowing down to give teammate Rubens Barrichello the victory.

With Sunday’s farce, though, F-1 wrote itself a one-way ticket out of Indianapolis and, in all likelihood, the entire American market.

Which begs the question: Can we help them pack?

The Grand Prix is (was) a nice, novel event, and it brought an estimated $170 million into the local economy. For one weekend a year, Indianapolis felt a little bit like an international city.

But F-1 is the rude houseguest who never brings anything to the party and continues to wipe its muddy shoes on the new Persian rug.
And to do it at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the mecca of all motor sports, that’s like playing handball against the Wailing Wall.

They had no respect for the place, and, clearly, no respect for the fans, many of whom stuck around until the bitter end. (And for all the bad behavior, it could have been a lot, lot worse.)

Tell me, what was the purpose of having the original 20 cars come out on the grid, only to have the 14 Michelin men exit stage left?

To make a point?

To rub the fans’ noses in it?

At one point during the Speed TV telecast, Derek Daly asked that very question of Adrian Newey, the technical director for McLaren Mercedes.

The response was, “Maybe to give them something of a show."

Daly, you could tell, wanted to punch the guy in the teeth.

Yeah, thanks for the show.

Now, of course, comes the time for apportioning the blame, and the best way to begin is by telling you who isn’t culpable in this situation:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George.

Naturally, people looking for a refund will gaze toward 16th and Georgetown, but, tell me, what else could they have done? They were more than willing to put a chicane on the 13th turn. How could they have been expected to fix this?

I don’t blame George and the Speedway folks for refusing to be a part of the post-race victory celebration.

And I don’t blame George and the Speedway for releasing a statement that basically said: “Hey, you want your money back, here are the addresses for Michelin and the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile).”

No, if we’re assigning culpability, it belongs to a lot of other folks.

-- To Ecclestone, who couldn’t find a way to get his own politically charged house in order. The buck stops with him.

-- To Michelin, a company that just got so much bad publicity, the Michelin Man was seen drowning his sorrows in a Downtown Indianapolis pub. Speed TV’s telecast, by the way, was sponsored by — yep — Michelin.

-- To the FIA, which made any kind of compromise virtually impossible by threatening to pull its sanction if a chicane was added. It put politics ahead of the fans. Inexcusable.

-- To Ferrari, the only team that voted against the addition of a chicane, another decision that killed any hope of saving this race. At one level, it wasn’t their fault the Michelin teams were unprepared, but again, it’s supposed to be about delivering the product, even if that means making a concession.

In the end, it was business as usual in big time racing, destroying any foothold F-1 might have gained on American soil.

“Quite frankly,’’ Ecclestone said, “the fans got cheated."

True enough.

The good news is, without any more of these races, it can’t happen again.

Taken from http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050619/SPORTS01/50619011

MrPudding

Would one of the other 4 threads discussing this not have done you?

MrP

SouperComputer

Ferrari wanting or not wanting the chicane is irrellavnet. They like all the other teams are there to race and take adavntge of any situation that occurs. I dont see why (from another driver/teams POV) they should not have raced. I know I would have.

Like most motorsports (in Europe), F1 governed by the FIA. You cant slap down chicane willy-nilly, this is due to regs set with safety in mind. Ive seen that happen in smaller formulae with very disasterous results. These sections have to be planned by a team on engineers and then appoved. You sure as hell cant just roll one out on a banked turn! All

I feel really bad for the people who spend their hard earned cash to see a race and got a farce. But sometimes thats the way it goes in motorsport. Things are pushed to the limit in general, Michelin didn't have a safe tyre and could not race. TS, thats part of racing.

Cant say I ever felt the need to pull in on a drying track on slicks bacuse others were at a disadvantge on wets. The USGP is a more extreme example of course, but the principle is the same. You dont stop racing because of someone else cant compete.

F1 is not as good a spectacle a NASCAR or Champ\indy IMO. Customer cars are a great idea and a bit more of a leveller. I think F1 was already fighting an uphill battle over there, this will just make its death even more juicy!

stevenmu

Just 2 quick FYIs, all 20 cars were contractually obliged to come out and do the formation lap, I got the impression from some of the interviews that they really didn't want to. Also Ferrari didn't vote against the chicane they just didn't say that they would refuse to race without one, it's not up to the teams to decide what the track layout is, they can only really refuse to race if it's not safe.

BANZAI_RUNNER

Ok , frankly i think F1 is wasted on the "yanks" its too complicated for them to understand, and the quicker Bernie pulls the plug on the U.S. Grand Prix the better. As regards yesterdays race, Ferrari, Jordan, Minardi were right to race, afterall they had no problems with their tyres, as of this afternoon , FIA has summoned all the Michelin Teams for a meeting to discuss the penalties that may be imposed on them for bringing the sport into disrepute, for further details on this try this www.itv-f1.com
I think 9 degrees of diamond cut banking should be introduced into all circuits.....

oneofakind32

BANZAI_RUNNER wrote:

Ok , frankly i think F1 is wasted on the "yanks" its too complicated for them to understand, and the quicker Bernie pulls the plug on the U.S. Grand Prix the better. As regards yesterdays race, Ferrari, Jordan, Minardi were right to race, afterall they had no problems with their tyres, as of this afternoon , FIA has summoned all the Michelin Teams for a meeting to discuss the penalties that may be imposed on them for bringing the sport into disrepute, for further details on this try this www.itv-f1.com
I think 9 degrees of diamond cut banking should be introduced into all circuits.....

I totaly agree with you. Anyone who is planing to boycot F1 because this is only dying to find an excuse unless of course you paid to see the race (digital PPV or whent to the track) which Im sure the majority of people hear didnt. Lets just enjoy the rest of the season cus its the tighest we have seen in quite a while and this contravercy has only made it for me even more compelling. Howmany of you actaully turned of your TV's on Sunday evening? I know I couldnt and I had my leavingcert physics the next morning. F1 has gotten huge publicity over the past weekend because of it and you know what they say ''theres no such thing as bad publicity''.

Bards

I'll be interested to hear what the outcome of the talks on Wednesday are.. I must be one of the few here who actually attended the race in Indianapolis.

The last one I attended was Monza 2001 right after 9/11 and Schui was trying to get all the drivers not to race.

must be just my luck

adharc

Hey have I missed something. Michelin didn't have the correct tyres, Bridgestone did so don't blame Schumaker, Ferrari or Jordan or Minardi who were correctly set up. Michelin better do their homework. Anyway it'l be like Perrier water, they've had it.

halenger

All teams bar Ferrari agreed not to race (if the chicane was not installed). Jordan went back on their agreement so Paul Stoddart grudgingly put his Minardis into the race (cause Mosely already hates him). He said that he'd pull them the moment the Jordans retired etc.

Ferrari/Todt didn't turn up to any of the team meetings - not even the ones that Schumacher and Rubens were at. This is Paul Stoddarts account of the weekend... Very well worth a read:
http://www.minardi.it/press/dettaglio.asp?AnnoComunicato=2005&Tipologia=3&IDComunicato=1875&LN=UK#

This incident has done wonders to strenghten the new alternate competition. Role on 2008 or pull it back to 2006. ... We'll see what happens but F1 needs pretty big changes - penalizing the teams isn't one of them.