USA Grand Prix descends into farce
Sunday, June 19, 2005 Posted: 1804 GMT (0204 HKT)
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana -- The United States Grand Prix descended into chaos and recrimination on Sunday as only six cars started the race because of safety fears of teams running on Michelin tires.
Seven of the ten teams refused to race because a makeshift chicane was not introduced at the Brickyard which they believe would have solved the problem on the high speed banking.
The sport's governing body, the FIA, ruled out the change and world champions Ferrari, who started, were also against the idea.
All the drivers completed the parade lap but then peeled off, leaving Ferrari, Jordan and Minardie racing.
The controversy arose once Michelin were unable to guarantee the safety of their tires on the banking unique to the circuit.
Michelin are baffled by the left rear tyre deflations that led to practice crashes on Friday for Toyota drivers Ralf Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta.
Schumacher, who suffered serious injuries with a crash in the same race last year, pulled out of Sunday's race as a precaution to be replaced by Zonta.
The FIA also refused to bend any rules to allow the seven Michelin supplied teams to switch to tyres newly arrived from France after those used in practice and qualifying here were deemed unsafe for the race by the manufacturer.
Sunday, June 19, 2005 Posted: 1804 GMT (0204 HKT)
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana -- The United States Grand Prix descended into chaos and recrimination on Sunday as only six cars started the race because of safety fears of teams running on Michelin tires.
Seven of the ten teams refused to race because a makeshift chicane was not introduced at the Brickyard which they believe would have solved the problem on the high speed banking.
The sport's governing body, the FIA, ruled out the change and world champions Ferrari, who started, were also against the idea.
All the drivers completed the parade lap but then peeled off, leaving Ferrari, Jordan and Minardie racing.
The controversy arose once Michelin were unable to guarantee the safety of their tires on the banking unique to the circuit.
Michelin are baffled by the left rear tyre deflations that led to practice crashes on Friday for Toyota drivers Ralf Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta.
Schumacher, who suffered serious injuries with a crash in the same race last year, pulled out of Sunday's race as a precaution to be replaced by Zonta.
The FIA also refused to bend any rules to allow the seven Michelin supplied teams to switch to tyres newly arrived from France after those used in practice and qualifying here were deemed unsafe for the race by the manufacturer.
