Whats up with Michelin?

[cx777]

I was just thinking... WTF happened at the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis, IN?
How the heck did the race end up with only 6 racers and all of them using Bridgestone tires...

One more thing, why were the Marlboro titles covered?

[DAL767-400ER]

Simple: Michelin screwed up big time, and it's all Ferrari's fault . I couldn't care less about those accusations. Ferrari acted according to the rules, and got their points. And I'm sure Monteiro is also very happy.

About why Marlboro titles were covered, the US is very anti-tobacco, and you are not allowed to show any commercials about any tobacco brand, hence the titles were replaced. This also applies to some other countries as well.

[philip]

hey DAL767-400ER, I'm no expert but you seem to have something against all the tyres. Didn't you have a anti Bridgestone sig last week?

Just wondering what tyres has your car?

[pbateson]

How come not too many people watch F1 instead of Indy 500, CART and Nascar???

[DAL767-400ER]

Just wondering what tyres has your car?

Pirelli, and my old car used to have Fulda.

hey DAL767-400ER, I'm no expert but you seem to have something against all the tyres. Didn't you have a anti Bridgestone sig last week?

First, I was p!ssed at Bridgestone for not providing a good tire to Ferrari. It was not bad because of safety reasons, but it was just slow as hell.
Now, I laugh at the sore losers from Michelin, who weren't able to come up with a tire that is made for a high-speed track like Indianapolis. It is not only the fact that the tires they had in IND, but also that the replacement tires brought in from France were a safety risk as well. And it's not like Michelin could not have tested their tires on location. They have 7 teams, but they only always test on tracks in Europe, so it's their own fault they screwed up.

How come not too many people watch F1 instead of Indy 500, CART and Nascar???

Because Formula 1 and slack-yawed yokels usually don't combine very well .

[philip]

ok. Mine has Pirelli too, is that a good sign?

[MaDbOy]

Colin, have you heard of the chicane they wanted to built in Corner 13? for safety reasons for the Michelins, but the Bridgestone teams where against that, since they HAD to take it as well, wich would be unfair.
but damn I had one helluva good laugh @ Michelin

[Longreach747]

nothing funny about Ralph Schumacher's tyre blow out on turn 13, it was only Ferrari that objected to the chicane at turn 13, all other teams had requested it for safety reasons, so it wasn't just a Michelin issue! all the teams had concerns about it!

thats a steep turn, a F1 car is pretty light and it wouldn't take much for something catastrophic to happen when the tyres eventually wear during the race, part of the stupid new rule by the FIA that only allows a tyre change if the tyre is rooted like Raikkonen's at Montreal last week. FIA did nothing to accomodate the concerns so the race ended up like this, but its interesting to note that it WASN'T just Michelin teams that were requesting a track change!

[DAL767-400ER]

Oh yeah, the brilliant idea of adding a chicane at turn 12/13. Makes me wonder even more about the quality of Michelin. So the tires can't stand through 73 with the Indy-style high-speed curve, but with a single chicane added they could? Seems a bit weird.
And Jordan only initially wanted a track change, but later decided to use the regular track without the chicane.
But let's face it: While Michelin screwed up their tires, I am confident that all this trouble would have been a non-issue if the FIA didn't decide to prohibit tire changes during the race unless a tire has already blown to smithereens.

[G-MIDY]

I had mixed feelings over this, for one i was pi$$ed at Ferrari for dismissing the fans and basically making the race a 2man horse race. 2nd i was pi$$ed at the officials for not putting the chicane in and dismissing Ferraris claim of no wrong doing so tough on the other 15+ drivers. 3rd i felt for the fans out there for all the money they spent but come on boo-ing and throwing bottles!? :|

Michelin know they will face huge penalties for this they're going to face them big big time because this could damage F1 itself among the fans greatly.
They couldn't switch to Bridgestone because they're on contracts to run on Michelin, plus a better tyre isn't available that fast, so really the drivers could go out but literally be dicing with death on turn 13.

[Longreach747]

and thats the stupidity of the current F1 rules, no tyre changes during the race unless you've got a situation like Raikkonen's last week, FIA has only themselves to blame. total crock of crap on the FIA's behalf.

[DAL767-400ER]

and thats the stupidity of the current F1 rules, no tyre changes during the race unless you've got a situation like Raikkonen's last week, FIA has only themselves to blame. total crock of crap on the FIA's behalf.

Abso-bloody-lutely correct. As reports have shown, had it not been for the fiber cables holding the tire onto the chassis, the tire would have hit Raikkonen straight in the head, with potential leathel consequences. Of course, McLaren could have changed the tire, but then he would have been disqualified.

[CanadianDC10]

and thats the stupidity of the current F1 rules, no tyre changes during the race unless you've got a situation like Raikkonen's last week, FIA has only themselves to blame. total crock of crap on the FIA's behalf.

I'll have to disagree a bit here. Why didn't the Michelin teams put on the brand new (and supposedly secure) tires brought from France before the race? Yes, that's illegal and they would all have been disqualified after the race. But at least there would have been a "show". What's so different between that, and asking for a chicane, then being disqualified for it (= the Michelin proposal Ferrari voted against)?

I'm being a bit hypothetical here, but I think that maybe the Michelin teams didn't race because they wanted the blame to be put on Ferrari rather than on their tyres. (I bet that Michelin are being "congratulated" at the moment...) F1 is all about marketing unfortunately... yet an other reason to prefer Champ Car over it

[JJR]

As an american who want's badly for F-1 to be more accepted here in the states, the race was a complete slap in the face. I can understand that it was a safety concern, and thats why the cars did not run. On the otherhand, shouldn't this tire problem be sorted out way way before they ever got to Indy? I imagine that testing and diffrent compounds would be tried, months before an event. Makes the Good-Year problem at NASCARs Poccono race look like a success. Michelin has a big hole to dig out of now. I wonder how many teams will switch?
-Jay

[Longreach747]

the problem with the Indy circuit is the 12th and 13th turns and the steepness and fast pace of them, if a car is high on the turn at high speed the tyres risk blowing out and flipping the car, it wouldn't matter which tyre your running otherwise Bridgestone teams wouldn't have sided with the chicane option! Michelin would have gone to Indy with the best tyres possible, but they can't test those tyres on any other track in the world except Indy, it's a unique track and the testing only comes a few days before the race!