FIA delays USGP decision until September

[Dino Scuderia]

World Motor Sport Council - Update 1





Teams found guilty on two of the five
charges against them today in Paris

Max Mosley said on Wednesday that the FIA had decided to delay punishing the seven teams who refused to race at the United States Grand Prix, until September.

FIA President Mosley explained that they were found guilty on two of the five charges against them but the World Motor Sport Council wanted to wait and see if tyre suppliers Michelin compensate the fans.

Only six cars started the race in Indianapolis on June 19 and thousands of angry spectators expressed their disgust at the farcical contest. The teams which refused to race on safety grounds after taking their places on the preliminary grid were McLaren, Renault, Sauber, Red Bull, BMW Williams, Toyota and BAR, all supplied by Michelin who said their tyres were not safe to race.

"As you will recall, there were five charges against the teams. The first of these were to be sure they were in possession of suitable tyres, and they were found guilty of that, but with strongly mitigating circumstances," said Mosley.

"They were accused of wrongfully refusing to start the race, found guilty of that. They were found not guilty of refusing to race subject to a speed limit, because there was no plan in place. They have also been found not guilty of conspiring to make a demonstration because they satisfied the World Council. They were found not guilty of failing to tell the stewards."



The FIA President indicated that the seven teams will have to wait until the extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on September 14.

"The World Motor Sport Council has decided to adjourn discussion of penalty to an extraordinary meeting, when it will be seen what steps have been taken to compensate the fans," said Mosley.

"And also what steps have been taken by the Michelin teams to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. The final decision will then be made after that."

But the French tyre manufacturer, who was not summoned to the hearing, will not face any penalty.

Mosley added: "The difficulty is the FIA has no relationship with the Michelin tyre company, so we are in no position to impose a penalty in Michelin."

[Wouter Melissen]

Sounds fair enough. The FIA has opened the door for the teams to prove this was just an incident in two months. If they do so the punishment will probably be only minimal or nill. The teams were already punished by not being able to score points in the US. The damage to Michelin's image is also a punishment on its own.

[jorismo]

And luckely Michelin wants to refund the tickets

[Jack_Bauer]

Seems six of the Michelin seven aren't too happy about the charges. They've released a statement saying they are going to appeal...http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=24992

They use the defence on the first charge that they were really at the mercy of Michelin as to what tyres they would get at Indy, it was out of their hands whether they recieved suitable tyres or not.

They have quite a good argument on the second charge too, saying that if they were found NOT guilty of refusing to accept the reduced speed solution, but then found guilty of refusing to race when the FIA didn't refer to any other feasible solution in the charges.

To be honest I'm a little surprised about which charges they were found guilty of. To find them guilty of not bringing the correct tyres to the race seems to shift the blame AWAY from Michelin when it is blindingly obvious that it was Michelin's fault!

Plus I think the FIA are treading on a potential minefield by finding them guilty of refusing to start the race. Technically they DID start the race but retired on VERY legitimate safety grounds. Plus there is the fact that it is buried in the rules somewhere that a minimum of 12 (or is it 14 :confused:) cars have to start the race for it to be considered a legal race. By saying that the teams refused to START the race (hence implying that only 6 cars started) surely that then renders the race illegitimate?! I guess in that case they'd have to strip Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi of the points they earned wouldn't they?

The only charge that I thought they were guaranteed to be found guilty of was neglecting to inform the stewards of their intentions, but they were found not guilty of that one, so it shows what I know! :o

Also, it seems that Red Bull are distancing themselves from the other 6 teams. It seems they won't be appealing the decision and are happy with whatever punishment they recieve. Quite interesting in terms of the politics as Red Bull were already thought to be the weak link in the GPWC teams, this seems to confirm this.

[Wouter Melissen]

Also, it seems that Red Bull are distancing themselves from the other 6 teams. It seems they won't be appealing the decision and are happy with whatever punishment they recieve. Quite interesting in terms of the politics as Red Bull were already thought to be the weak link in the GPWC teams, this seems to confirm this.
We all know who their new engine supplier is ...

[Rockefella]

Also, it seems that Red Bull are distancing themselves from the other 6 teams. It seems they won't be appealing the decision and are happy with whatever punishment they recieve. Quite interesting in terms of the politics as Red Bull were already thought to be the weak link in the GPWC teams, this seems to confirm this.
That's because RBR is Ferrari's B1tch.

[woodstock827]

can't the teams request what type of tyres they want for a race? e.g. i want a safer slower tyre, or i want a faster but more wear tyre? so in a way the teams are responsible for their tyres of choice... i have no problem with the first charge.
and u can't really punish the supplier... may be take them off the supplier list next year... but not much they can do this year...

now the second charge is kinda weird.... i'd expect if they found guilty of not racing, they'r also be found guilty of refusing solution... imo, i'd go for either both guilty or both not guilty....

the one charge i thought would be found guilty for sure was failing to notify the stewards, but that one didn't land either... what is the FIA thinking??

[Jack_Bauer]

can't the teams request what type of tyres they want for a race? e.g. i want a safer slower tyre, or i want a faster but more wear tyre? so in a way the teams are responsible for their tyres of choice... i have no problem with the first charge.


The problem with the Michelin tyres was down to the actual construction technique of the tyre. It was the structure of the carcass of the tyre on the shoulder of sidewall that was failing, and apparently all Michelin's 2005 tyres use this construction method. Michelin did bring two different types of tyre to Indy, one with on-the-limit softer compound and one supposedly safer harder compound, but they both had the same intrinsic design which was unsuitable for the circuit. When they shipped in the tyres with the Barcelona spec it turned out they had the same problem aswell. It wouldn't have mattered what tyres the teams chose from Michelin, they wouldn't have worked. That's why I think it's harsh to find the teams guilty for Michelin's problems.

[Quiggs]

<conspiracy theory> The FIA is holding out on its decision on how to punish the teams so they can penalize them with 3 races to go, and let Ferrari win the constructor/driver championships. </conspiracy theory>

^ That's sure to get the SF fans as well as haters riled up. :) http://www.vwvortex.com/zeroforum_graphics/biggrin_upper.gif

[Jack_Bauer]

<conspiracy theory> The FIA is holding out on its decision on how to punish the teams so they can penalize them with 3 races to go, and let Ferrari win the constructor/driver championships. </conspiracy theory>


Nah, I don't think Max is clever enough to think up something like that! :D

[Dino Scuderia]

The 6 teams just go on and on.

Pitpass (http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=24993)

[woodstock827]

The problem with the Michelin tyres was down to the actual construction technique of the tyre. It was the structure of the carcass of the tyre on the shoulder of sidewall that was failing, and apparently all Michelin's 2005 tyres use this construction method. Michelin did bring two different types of tyre to Indy, one with on-the-limit softer compound and one supposedly safer harder compound, but they both had the same intrinsic design which was unsuitable for the circuit. When they shipped in the tyres with the Barcelona spec it turned out they had the same problem aswell. It wouldn't have mattered what tyres the teams chose from Michelin, they wouldn't have worked. That's why I think it's harsh to find the teams guilty for Michelin's problems.

well... at least according to Michelin they denied that it was a problem created by their construction method..... from their response, i get a feeling they're saying that they can make a safe tyre if they had more testings (and everyone expect them to). i believe that implies it possible for Michelin to come up with the safe tyres (which we can assume they can.. they're the supplier afterall), just no one asked for them and therefore Michelin didn't make them...
don't forget, Michelin flew their so-called backup tyres from France on race day (no team brought their own backup). they're not backup tyres designed for that circuit, just "safer" tyres in comparison to their original one... apparently safer is not safe enough...

[henk4]

The 6 teams just go on and on.

Pitpass (http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=24993)


signed by Mr. Pannick :D