F1 USA GP

[wacki]

-180,000 ticket refunds (my tickets were $85).

-$15 million George paid FIA for the privilege of letting bernie buttfuck him.

-various other costs

This could get very expensive for bernie. Somehow I doubt he'll get reamed that hard but I hope he does.

[Arnfinn Madsen]

It was a sort of trap not easy to get out of. It was Michelin who messed it all up by making the mistake of bringing unsuitable tires. I guess FIA did not want to give Michelin a second chance to avoid presedence.

Could have found a much smarter solution though, i.e. chicane but 1 minute penalty for all Michelin-drivers.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
It was Michelin who messed it all up by making the mistake of bringing unsuitable tires.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bullshit. We are talking about uber high end/experimental performance products. These products are going to have mistakes in them every now and then. This is the whole point of having a high end technology race. PLus it's tires, it's not like you can test them out like you can other products. Michelin did exactly what they were supposed to do and warned their drivers. Under your system they would be more inclined to "sweep the problem under the rug" and not warn the drivers. That is a horrible situation and a horrible rule to have. You don't mess with anything involved with safety and tires are included. It's a stupid rule.

Michelin behaved perfectly IMO. Whoever made that rule is retarded and bernie is retarded for not figuring out a solution. It's his job to make sure the show goes on and he had plenty of time to solve this problem. He [censored] up.

[2planka]

In case anyone missed the reference:

More evidence that Bernie is a moran.

[wacki]

Just to point one more thing out. 14 drivers, their managers, their owners, and their sponsers all agreed to boycott this race. They all had a ton of time and money invested in this race. You don't get that many people, with that much invested, boycotting a very lucrative race without a very good reason.

[2planka]

I actually missed the race yesterday because I had a baseball game of my own. I heard about the debacle on the radio and deleted the tivo file without watching it.

Plenty of blame to go around (Michelin is in the front of the line, IMO), but this will cripple F1 in the US - especially with the hype surrounding Patrick.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
Michelin is in the front of the line, IMO

[/ QUOTE ]

http://msn.foxsports.com/motor/story/3652614

"In one way the rules have been good for overtaking and entertainment, but there is no question that it is more dangerous," Coulthard told The Times.

http://www.planetf1.com/features/let...ry_19720.shtml
The Unsafe One-Tyre Rule Must End Now
I am writing this in the heat of the moment, I have just seen my favourite driver, Kimi Raikkonen, exit the race on the very last lap due to an exploding tyre. I am sure all other fans were dreading but expecting this very moment. If you watch the footage closely, it was merely a matter of millimeters between Raikkonen and Button. Imagine what could have happened if Raikkonen had hit Button... or, imagine what would have happened if his tyre had actually hit him during the explosion, it almost looked like it did.

I'd rather have a race botched than a driver die. It seems that you don't feel the same.

The fact that people are putting so much blame on Michelin only shows their ignorance of the situation. (Keep in mind that due to the UN scandal I am boycotting French products right now yet I am defending a French tire company.) Tires, especially high performance tires, are not the easiest thing in the world to test.

[2planka]

I'm not suggesting that I'd prefer an unsafe race. It's simply that Michelin failed to validate their design for the particular track conditions. They knew the F1 rules, they presumably had ample time to evaluate, verify, and validate their design, and they (Michelin) chose not to perform a risk analysis until the 11th hour and only then after two crashes which fortunately did not result in serious injuries.

Seems that the vitriol is being deflected away from Michelin and onto F1, George, et. al. Michelin failed and then tried to have the rules changed after the fact.

We'll see what happens in two weeks.

edit:

And kimi raikkonen abused the hell out of his tires in germany. He had a commanding lead and made several unforced mistakes that put him in the gravel and damaged that right front tire. The vibration of the damaged tire caused the wheel to rupture from the car, not an "exploding tire." The tire was intact as he spun out of control. Raikkonen's life was saved by the wheel tether, as the wheel would have crushed him had it not been for the tether. Different issue altogether. Not sure why you bring it up.

.... unless that is to say that you disapprove of the no tire change rule. You have a point with that.

also, it was the decision of raikkonen's team not to change the tire - clearly allowed due to the damage. They gambled and lost.

My pont is that I don't hold Michelin responsible per se for raikkonen's crash in germany. I do hold Michelin responsible for failing to design a tire for the US GP.

[maryfield48]

[ QUOTE ]
(Keep in mind that due to the UN scandal I am boycotting French products right now yet I am defending a French tire company.) Tires, especially high performance tires, are not the easiest thing in the world to test.

[/ QUOTE ]

Congratulations on not being influenced by something completely unrelated to this issue.

That said, you are right that Michelin is not the problem here. They did what they had to do - apart from any moral obligations, to have done anything else would have exposed them to even greater loss of reputation had an accident occured with a Michelin-shod car during the race.

[2planka]

[ QUOTE ]
It seems that you don't feel the same.

The fact that people are putting so much blame on Michelin only shows their ignorance of the situation.

[/ QUOTE ]

I took a few minutes to think through my response to this part of your post.

I don't know where you get the notion that I want to see carnage, or that I'm at all ignorant of "the situation," as you put it. Maybe you're just trying to spice things up.

Fact: Michelin is responsible for designing the tires.
Fact: Michelin is aware of the F1 rules.
Fact: Michelin became aware of a defect in their design.
Fact: Michelin urged their teams not to race.

Okay, so Michelin did the responsible thing at the last minute. Good for them. It took a very close call for them to act at all. Obviously, the Michelin design was not suffieciently robust to tolerate the track conditions. They failed and essentially recalled all the tires supplied for the race. I agree that it must have been a major defect.

Is the problem with the tires or with the track? Bridgestone apparently had no trouble with the track, but who's to say they didn't get lucky?

You seem to be straddling this one, wacki. What gives?