Just 6 drivers at USA Grand Prix

[Jack_Bauer]

Interesting interview with Paul Stoddart of Minardi. He is only racing his cars because Jordan reneged on their agreement not to race. He didn't want to race at all and isn't even watching the race. So if Jordan had stuck to their guns and not raced it would've been a 2 car race with just the Ferraris.

[Esperante]

What the hell? Oh my......

[Rockefella]

I know ScionDriver and I think aNobleFan went to the race. I can imagine the venting that will happen..

[Quiggs]

The worst part is, most of the people there don't know why 14 cars just pulled off the track.

[Pando]

Aaargh! I just came home specifically to watch the race! This is just absurd... *sigh* But I guess Michelin got their point across. Sucks though.

[Rockefella]

Maybe this will be for the better, perhaps some drivers would have gotten severely injured if Michelin didn't back out.

[jorismo]

Are their stil some people left at the stands?? feel sorry for them... just a waste of money...

[blackcat77]

Of course it's better that Michelin didn't race with a dangerous tire. But there were tires availabile on site which would have been safe. There could have been changes made to the track which would have made the original tires safe. This didn't have to be a farce -- that was strictly Bernie's decision.

[blackcat77]

Are their stil some people left at the stands?? feel sorry for them... just a waste of money...

They're leaving in droves. I suspect the ones who are left will express their sentiments quite clearly at the "podium" "ceremonies." Note the quotes around both words since this is NOT a F1 race in reality and any celebrating will be more of a joke than the race itself.

[dydzi]

i think it's not really the michelin who made decision to end the race even before it started. imo it were the teams with michelin tyres who decided to make that form of the protest. probably michelin is scared right now just like the organisators

[scubasteve87]

**** michelin, i live in Indy and i DID support F1 but i can't do it anymore, this is proof that european racing will shit on america whenever they can. I hope all the american sponsors pull out and they can truly understand the mistake they've made, F1 anywhere in America died today, at least if i pay 80 dollars to watch nascar or the irl, they race....

[Jack_Bauer]

Of course it's better that Michelin didn't race with a dangerous tire. But there were tires availabile on site which would have been safe. There could have been changes made to the track which would have made the original tires safe. This didn't have to be a farce -- that was strictly Bernie's decision.

Nope, Bernie's hands were tied IMHO. For all his flaws there is nobody who would be more desperate to get the race to go ahead than Bernie, his reputation depends on it. The bottom line is any compromise would essentially be in breach of a number of the FIA technical regulations. The only way they could get round that is if all 10 teams unanimously agreed to a compromise in the name of safety. They couldn't do that because it seems Ferrari wouldn't agree to it.

The blame falls firstly at Michelin's feet and then at the teams *cough* Ferrari *cough* for not showing common sense in coming to some kind of compromise in the name of the sport. I don't think the FIA or Bernie could do much about it.

[dydzi]

Interesting interview with Paul Stoddart of Minardi. He is only racing his cars because Jordan reneged on their agreement not to race. He didn't want to race at all and isn't even watching the race. So if Jordan had stuck to their guns and not raced it would've been a 2 car race with just the Ferraris.

and what would you do if you were them? minardi and jordan have first occasion to get sooo many points in only one race, and by the end of the season it can decide how much money will they get from the concorde agreement

[SIMPLETON]

Aint we all forgetting that raceing is about taking chances and risk being injured or killed. By Michelin pulling their cars out they jacked up F1 for America for probably a good 10 years. I'm not blaming Bernie he did nothing wrong this time. It's Tony George's and Michelin's fault. Me thinks maybe we should go to 1 tire manufacturer.

[Quiggs]

**** michelin, i live in Indy and i DID support F1 but i can't do it anymore, this is proof that european racing will shit on america whenever they can. I hope all the american sponsors pull out and they can truly understand the mistake they've made, F1 anywhere in America died today, at least if i pay 80 dollars to watch nascar or the irl, they race....

And this kind of thing would never, ever happen in NASCAR. Similar things have happened in the past, and it's handled very quickly. Problems that develop in practice are fixed by the race. And if something comes up during the race, the Goodyear engineers will make adjustments to the recommended tire pressures.