F1

[blobrana]

Hum,
Yeah,
Very short sightedness on the part of Ferrari.

Ok, they had the right to race, and thought, `why should they compromise through no fault of their own`. It was Michelins fault, and they had to win the race – and pick up valueless points and lose the hearts of the ppl there.

The `spirit of racing` just got runover by corporate FIA & ferrari

[PMC]

I was very disillusioned with Ferrari yesterday as their decision not to ratify the airlift of the Michelins meant that only six cars raced.  Surely even though rules are there to be obeyed, Ferrari went against the spirit of sportsmanship?

I'm afraid any goodwill toward the red team was in very short supply yesterday and I pity the poor souls who spent a small fortune to end up watching what amounted to a Bridgestone testing session that happened to have points awarded.  

The notion of sportsmanship was clearly lost on Ferrari yesterday, gone are the days when it was commonplace for teams and drivers to assist their rivals with spare parts etc who would otherwise have to sit out the race because of mechanical problems.  

[Vincent]

PMC wrote:
Surely even though rules are there to be obeyed, Ferrari went against the spirit of sportsmanship?

My thoughts exactly :-(

[Doobrey]

Oh well, looks like the implosion is about to begin...FIA to bring charges against teams :-(
 I can't see any of them rolling over and taking it, wonder if they can counter by bringing disrepute charges against Moseley and Ecclescake?

[Vincent]

"Wrongly refused to allow your cars to start the race"

WTF?!

Would Mosely and the rest preferred that they raced on the unmodified circuit at full speed and risk 14 cars crashing?

[blobrana]

Hum,
The speed difference between Bridgestone and Michelin, had they raced and slowed down for that corner, would be 100 km/h...

And it’s not the safest situation to get shunted from behind (i.e., into that concrete wall)...

[Doobrey]

More F1 crap for anyone who's interested..
 BMW buys Sauber

Stoddard blames Mosley..get past the rants and the rest shows the usual Mosley bullyboy tactics.

Edit..
I think this Stoddard's account of USGP says it all, damn good read of how this whole farce came about.

To my total disgust, it was stated that Mosley had informed Mr Martin, the FIA’s most senior representative in the USA, that if any kind of non-championship race was run, or any alteration made to the circuit, the US Grand Prix, and indeed, all FIA-regulated motorsport in the US, would be under threat – again, exactly the same tactic that was used in threatening the Australian Grand Prix and Australian motorsport in March of this year.

[Vincent]

Mosley is so far out of touch he'd be closer to the F1 teams if he was on Alpha Centauri.

[PMC]

Both Mosley and Ecclestone are dangerously out of touch with the sport.

The latter is more interested in the money making aspect of things, seemingly more preoccupied with how straight the pitlane motorhomes are parked and how good the pitlane facilities are for the "corporate" guests.  None of it matters a fig to anyone watching at home.

The former seems to be doing everything he can to stop the dangerous activities whereby drivers might overtake each other on the track, instead preferring the endless processions and "pit lane passing".

[Tahoe]

The notion of sportsmanship was clearly lost on Ferrari yesterday, gone are the days when it was commonplace for teams and drivers to assist their rivals with spare parts etc who would otherwise have to sit out the race because of mechanical problems.  

Ferrari? Why would anyone blame this farce on Ferrari? If anyone is to blame it is either the teams and/or michelin.
Now it was 3 teams able to race, what do you think would have happened if it was the other way around? If Bridgestone had the problem and Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi asked for the trackchange? You think all 7 teams would have agreed?

Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of Ferrari (at all), but I do think they did right in racing.

[Vincent]

I'm thinking Bernie was wrong in telling the teams to go out to their track positions for the formation lap.  If they hadn't the race might've been abandoned.

[PMC]

Tahoe wrote:

Ferrari? Why would anyone blame this farce on Ferrari? If anyone is to blame it is either the teams and/or michelin.

Because a compromise was almost reached on Sunday morning when all the teams (bar one) agreed to have Barcelona spec Michelins flown in.  Ferrari objected and the teams decided not to race - wisely considering the apalling risks of injury to drivers.

I felt Ferrari's decision was hardly sporting under the circumstances, but allowed them a win nonetheless.

[Tahoe]

PMC wrote:
Because a compromise was almost reached on Sunday morning when all the teams (bar one) agreed to have Barcelona spec Michelins flown in.  Ferrari objected and the teams decided not to race - wisely considering the apalling risks of injury to drivers.

I felt Ferrari's decision was hardly sporting under the circumstances, but allowed them a win nonetheless.

I thought the Barcelona spec tyres had the same flaw?!
It just would have been so much better if the ferrari's didn't make it to the finish line, almost happened when schumi nearly bumped rubens off

Our dutch driver would have had a podium, something I consider impossible with a minardi...

At least he has a great boss, not afraid to criticize...

[Vincent]

Tahoe wrote:
I thought the Barcelona spec tyres had the same flaw?!

Nope, but they were untested rubber.  Michelin was confident, and the teams accepted that so they would've gone out on them.

It just would have been so much better if the ferrari's didn't make it to the finish line, almost happened when schumi nearly bumped rubens off

I would still be laughing today if that happened :-D

A Jordan 1 - 2 and Minardi getting a 3rd place :banana:  :crazy:

[Abou27]

Frank Williams has suggested that the Michelin teams would have raced for no points.  You can't say fairer than that (well, almost not).  The Michelin teams would have been penalised (hard for them to manufacture a Minardi/Jordan result over Ferrari), the crowd would have been largely satisfied and the financial effect in terms of sponsorship would be minimalised.  I would very much put the blame at the feet of Mosley.  Whilst I admit that he has done some good for F1 over the years, I think he has brought the sport to the brink of non-existance.

Future rules changes - standard ECU - so it will just be literally a manufacturing contest between the world's car makers; come on, what's the point of them being involved if not to show-off their technical prowess!

I'm hoping that BMW purchasing Sauber suggests that the GPWC          
series is becoming more of a possibility.

I would actually like Bernie to be in charge and for no-one to remember who Max Mosley is.:-)

Meanwhile I shall dig out my mid 90's tapes and remind myself what proper F1 cars look like :-D  

It's going to die, though:-(

[Doobrey]

As much as I hate to admit it,I feel pretty bad for Bernie.
He was stuck between a rock and hard place with Mosley refusing to budge on a compromise.

I guess after the Paris hearing we'll know more.
Knowing what a jumped up little dictator Mosley is, I bet he'd do something stupid like ban all the Michelin teams for a couple of races  :-o

Maybe the teams will decide enoughs enough and bring forward the GPWC idea to 2007 ? Dunno if the Concorde Agreement allows them to do this though..but then what can the FIA do? Ban them from a series they no longer want to race in?