Schumacher wins six-car Indy farce

[Monseratto]

Take nothing away at all from the efforts of all six driver’s who took part in today’s 73-lap US Grand Prix or Bridgestone who supply the tyres to the six runners, but the race at Indianapolis was simply a farce.

With the Michelin runners all retiring from the race at the end of the formation lap, Michael Schumacher drove a solid race to take the win from Rubens Barrichello, but there were no smiles at the end of the ninth round of the championship, not even from the race winners. The win was Schumacher’s first of the season with his last victory coming at Suzuka last year.



The two Ferrari drivers battled for the lead until the closing stages of the race with Schumacher leading early on but a long first stop as the crew examined the left rear Bridgestone dropped him behind Barrichello. The next set of pitstops saw Schumacher exit the pits at the same time as Barrichello dived into the apex at the first turn.

Two into one does not go and Barrichello widely took to the grass to avoid what would have been a very embarrassing collision. This handed the lead back to Schumacher, one he would keep to the end. The result moves Michael Schumacher up to third in the drivers’ championship with 34 points, while Barrichello moves up to join third in the standings.



One happy man at Indianapolis today was Tiago Monteiro who secured the final podium position in his Jordan Toyota from team-mate Narain Karthikeyan who did not have the pace to match his team-mate on this occasion. Christijan Albers finished in fifth position in his Minardi, the only driver to run a three stop strategy, ahead of team- mate Patrick Friesacher.

The fallout from today’s event at Indianapolis will begin in earnest as the Formula One circus packs up and heads back to Europe for the French Grand Prix in two weeks time.

For the fans at the US Grand Prix, it was a day that they will not forget in a long time and sadly for the sport, for all the wrong reasons

[mazdamazda]

this was one strange race!

I was already shocked to see some of the cars pit after the parade lap... I thought at first that it was a mechanical failure or something. but I got the shock of my life when only 6 were in the grid!

the only exciting part of the race was when Schumi & Rubens met at the end of the pitstop. Rubens ran wide (although it was a bit unnecessary since Schumi already backed off) and handed the win to Schumi.

IMO,

the Michelin-equipped cars should have just ran slower in the controversial turn. instead of sacrificing all of that to the dismay of fans worldwide.

[BoyFerrari]

If you stayed on to watch this farce up to the awarding ceremonies at the podium, nakaka-awang panoorin si Tiago Monteiro (Jordan, 3rd place) splashing that winner's champagne all by himself while Schumacher and Barricello simply turned back and quickly walked away feeling embarrased to even be there at the stage. The most sorry sight of all was looking at that GENUINE winner's look on Monteiro's face, all smiles, waving at the crowd, jumping, and relishing every moment of what could be his first and last podium appearance for this season and perhaps for years to come. Nakaka-awa talagang panoorin si Monteiro on that stage .... sobra...

The FIA is the only one to blame for this racing joke of the year. As mentioned in the papers, there were many ways available to let the race continue if they were willing to accept compromises. However, the rules were more important to them than the show.

The FIA should have known what was meant by - "The show must go on".
If this turned out to be a farce, they should have atleast refunded the tickets of the fans.

[BoyFerrari]

the only exciting part of the race was when Schumi & Rubens met at the end of the pitstop. Rubens ran wide (although it was a bit unnecessary since Schumi already backed off) and handed the win to Schumi.

My guess is that it was just a trick move between the two Ferraris and make it appear exciting, atleast to appease the fans who were clearly upset. It was obvious from the on-board camera shot that Rubens over-acted.

[mazdamazda]

BoyFerrari,

nakakaawa nga si Montiego... but a win is a win...

maganda rin naman ang suggestions ng FIA for the Michelin equipped cars...

> run slower at Turn 13
> change tires mid-race for safety reasons

dapat sila ang nag give way, and not the FIA (and other Bridgestone cars). unfair naman sa Bridgestone kung magbabago bigla ang format ng track.

[kimpOy]

tama a race is still a race, biro mo of the 6 nag 3rd pa siya he..he

there's always something new everyday

[mantoy]

well, this will not help formula one in trying to break into the US market. i personally feel that they should have done something about it for the fans and spectators.

[effone]

for me, this US GP is really a waste of money.

imagine, galing ka pa sa ibang lugar just to watch your favorite driver tapos makikita mo 6 racers lang...

i think this new rules of the FIA some how have holes in it. laboooo!

what happen to michelin runners?

[luckytruck]

maybe it's time to bring in a third supplier of tires? pirelli perhaps? or maybe goodyear?

andy

[Altis6453]

Err...didn't get to see the race. Why were there only six cars on the grid? Nag symbolic sit-out ba yung ibang teams?

[luckytruck]

because of the race setup, and the new rule of F1 that you can't change tires during the race, Michelin knew that their tires could not make it the whole race. so instead of risking injury to the drivers because of a guaranteed tire failure, they advised the teams not to run anymore.

Michelin wanted to alter the course setup to make one turn slower, but it wasn't approved.

kudos to bridgestone, at least they did their homework

this should make the image of the french even better in the USA .... hehehehe

andy

[coiter]

the blame should be on michelin. it was their fualt that their tires didn't meet the demands of the track or the situation. it should have been the drivers that adjusted to it. agree ako dun sa suggestion ng FIA to drive slowly on the said turn. kung pagbibigyan ang michelin and the teams using it, it will set a bad precedent na everytime may handicap or problem ang isang tire supplier, e babaguhin pa yung track at rules para lang ma-accomodate yung mali. malas na lang talaga ang crowd. and the teams should have raced pa rin. kahit pang show na lang. just my opinion

[luckytruck]

yup, the michelin drivers should have just slowed down at the corner in question. wala ba silang self-control na di nila kaya bumagal.

that is the point nga of racing....the driver should be able to handle the constraints of his car, the track and himself. they should have raced but at a slower pace

[mazdamazda]

here is some very good answers from Schumi & Rubens

Q: Michael and Rubens, I only want to know if it's true that this morning you agreed with the other drivers that a chicane was needed.

RB: I mean, if I had changed one of the corners in Bahrain, my tire would have finished, it wouldn't be in such a problem and I probably would have finished even on the podium. So why would we have to agree to that? People think, okay, you put in a chicane, but we haven't tested with that chicane so that could have been even more dangerous. If you take a different line and people spin to the other side, crash into the side wall, how can we do it? It's silly.

Q: (Curt Cavin - Indianapolis Star) I understand that you did not make the decision but can you tell my why Ferrari was not in favour of having a chicane put in at the last minute?

MS: I tell you one story, not so long ago. In Monza we had the death of a marshal and all of us drivers agreed we would want yellow flags for the first two chicanes, and there was no less than two or three team owners that told their drivers ‘you will not respect the yellow flag, just ignore what you have said or not said, we want you to race and we force you to race’ and it is the same people who have been on the other side today. So, Formula One is a tough business, we are working very hard and as I mentioned before we had a tyre that was quicker but we didn’t use it because we knew what was going to face us here. I am not saying the others purposefully chose something wrong, but whatever it is, it is their problem, not our problem. I don’t think you can ask the people who are not responsible for it to take the responsibility.

[creepy]

I have to agree that this race was a total joke!!

But I think Michelin has to take a bigger part of the blame for this becoming a joke.

[qwags]

good am guys... medyo bago ako dito and because of this "race", i think a have to give my 2 cents also...
i'm a mclaren fan... but today i'm really disappointed at them and all the michelin runners...
well medyo disappointed din ako sa mga rules ng FIA... kalokohan talaga yung 1 set of tire rule... but all the teams agreed to it... so dapat they should abide by it... i think FIA was right in nit giving in to michelin... tama nga kayo na it will set a bad precedent.. mamya baka sabihin naman ng brakes manugfacturer na hindi sila kampante sa brakes nila... pull out nanaman mga teams... hay naku... no offense to the ladies here but ika nga sa local lingo natin... yung mga michelin teams walang usapang lalaki... they all agreed with their rule revisions at the begining of the season tapos eto sila humihingi ng concessions because their tire supplier sucked... sorry for the ranting but just sharing my sentiments...

[jds]

"I don't think you will see us long out there. We will pull in the cars very early in the race because the driver's safety is our highest priority. It is a shame for all the spectators here but safety is more important than a good show."
--Norbert Haug

Safety was their main concern, as what happened to Ralf last Friday practice where his left rear tyre blew and he hit a wall as a result of that.

[luckytruck]

anyone know why there are only 2 tire manufacturers in F1?

andy

[mazdamazda]

Safety was their main concern, as what happened to Ralf last Friday practice where his left rear tyre blew and he hit a wall as a result of that.

Safety?

or

Incompetence?

Heck... they even took the pole for crying out loud. What were the practices for if they couldn't setup properly the suspension system to cope up with the banked track of Indianapolis?

IMO, they are relying too much on the tires. They could have gone for a softer suspension setting + higher tire inflation to offset the said problem.

[RedHorse]

michellin dug its own grave!

ang tawa lang ng bridgestone.... never a michellin tire fan anyway he he he