G.P. in the "Real" World - What Would You Do?

[Kyle Love]

Ok heres what I think...

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway should not reimburse the fans, it should 100% come from Michelin or F-1. IMS had nothing to do with Michelin's poor tires so why should they pay the fans?

IMS was not responsible for making a chicane. FIA officials are the ones who make those decisions. Considering it wasn't brought forth until race morning it would have been near impossible to get a half decent chicane built that quickly. Also, why should Bridgestone teams have to adapt to a track that they don't even need. It's racing, "race what you brought", if Michelin didn't want to fly over new tires over night, it seems to me its ALL their fault. Sure, I know theres a 1 set of tires per week rule, but give everyone a new set of tires.

This certainly comes back to safety, but suppliers to race teams should be reliable and know what to bring. They have had 5 GP's without any tires problems, what was so different about the 6th? They knew the stresses the tires would have in turn 13. They should have prepared the tires for the stress. About the Michelin teams, Bridgestone was offering to loan out 3 sets of tires, no teams accepted...maybe for contract reasons but in that situation I would think Michelin would allow it.

I believe the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's reputation was tarnished by this, when it shouldn't have been. It's not called "The Racing Capital of the World" for nothing. I have visited Daytona and Talladega and I must say, those are not near as fan friendly as IMS.

Last point...I think the FIA and Michelin should reimburse the fans. I do hope that F-1 comes back. But, they should have ALL suppliers bring the appropriate equipment.

-Just my thoughts about it-

[wilshire]

I don't think that this is a matter of G.P. but rather a example of Michelin not being able to supply good racing tires. Not once did I see the feild change between matches to adapt to the new robots that were to compete on it during this year's season. What might have been a better alternative would have been bridgestone supplying tires to the Michelin teams. Both ways Michelin has suffered a serious blow by this happening and there could be alot of sponsorship deals changing now because of this. It would have been Gracious Professionalism fo the Bridgestone teams if possble to call upon Bridgestone tosupply tires for the other Michelin teams but then again you then present problems of the rival companies. It is unfortunate to the fans that this happened but that is the fact of what happened. Also to comment on IMS. My Godfather, who races GT class, has always loved coming down to IMS because of the friendliness he feels from the people in Indy and from the fans themselves.

Thats my two cents.

Originally Posted by wilshire

I don't think that this is a matter of G.P. but rather a example of Michelin not being able to supply good racing tires. Not once did I see the feild change between matches to adapt to the new robots that were to compete on it during this year's season. What might have been a better alternative would have been bridgestone supplying tires to the Michelin teams. Both ways Michelin has suffered a serious blow by this happening and there could be alot of sponsorship deals changing now because of this. It would have been Gracious Professionalism fo the Bridgestone teams if possble to call upon Bridgestone tosupply tires for the other Michelin teams but then again you then present problems of the rival companies.

Don't want to get off topic, this is a great thread, but there are a few corrections Id like to make to your post.

1. The tire situation was Michelin didnt know why the tire was busting on the (Normal Turn 1 of IMS) final turn (and only banked turn) of the Grand Prix course, and they offered replacement tires that the teams could use, if F1 would have allowed an 11th hour change (which changes made during that time are very rare). F1 denied the request because they felt that they shouldnt make a rule change for teams who "brought the wrong equipment" to the track. So in the end Michelin said, well we cant do anything about this, so if you feel our tire isn't safe at the track, don't race.

2. Bridgestone only had enough tires at the track for their 6 teams and getting them to send extras that close to the race would have been impossible. The 11th hour tire change request that was denied by F1 would also make this against the rules.

The tire manufacturers had their hands tied behind their back....if F1 would have allowed this rule change, then we probably would have had a full race.