It's Official: Michelin Seven Charged By Fia

[Taku 0]

It's official: Michelin seven charged by FIA

21/06/05

As predicted, the Michelin seven have been charged with bringing the sport into disrepute during the Indy fiasco by the FIA.

In a letter sent to all seven of the teams, the FIA declared that at next Wednesday's hearing, they would 'answer charges that, in breach of the above, you committed one or more acts prejudicial to the interests of a competition, namely the 2005 United States Grand Prix and/or to the interests of motor sport'.

The specific charges against the Michelin teams are that they:

- failed to ensure that you had a supply of suitable tyres for the race and/or

- wrongfully refused to all allow your cars to start the race and/or

- wrongfully refused to allow your cars to race, subject to a speed restriction in one corner which was safe for such tyres as you had available and/or

- combined with other teams to make a demonstration damaging to the image of Formula One by pulling into the pits immediately before the start of the race.

'And that you failed to notify the stewards of your intention not to race in breach of article 131 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.'

It would appear that the FIA are blaming the seven Michelin teams, rather than Michelin themselves, for the debacle, suggesting that the teams should have simply slowed down as they approached the now notorious turn 13.

it appears that kaciaj's doomsday theory may come true.....this just gets worse and worse......

[Kaciaj 0]

I'm speachless.It let us see why FIA is so upset.They just want to win their ****ing political games,would they have penalized someoe they could have done it with Michelin.They are doing it with the teams.Ferrari International Association shame on you!

[Taku 0]

i am seriously starting to believe some of the conspiracy theories that have been doing the rounds, such as attempting to devalue f1, and favour the incumbents that have signed on for 2008. f1 is being used as a chessboard in a greater game for political power and the pawns, the fans, are getting knocked off.

once the game reaches checkmate they shall restart the game in 2008 with new players, but the winners will then control the game.

sad, very sad that it's reached this point. am i being too pessimistic?

i just can't comprehend why the fia is now going after the teams. i realise they stoked the fire, but surely a letter from michelin telling them specifically NOT to race under the previous conditions justifies their stance does it not?

[Taku 0]

typical max, taking the moral high ground and attempting to deflect the criticism that should be directed at him. i thought the bar drama was a sad affair but this, this takes the cake. *shakes head...

[Kaciaj 0]

i am seriously starting to believe some of the conspiracy theories that have been doing the rounds, such as attempting to devalue f1, and favour the incumbents that have signed on for 2008.  f1 is being used as a chessboard in a greater game for political power and the pawns, the fans, are getting knocked off. 

once the game reaches checkmate they shall restart the game in 2008 with new players, but the winners will then control the game. 

sad, very sad that it's reached this point.  am i being too pessimistic? 

i just can't comprehend why the fia is now going after the teams.  i realise they stoked the fire, but surely a letter from michelin telling them specifically NOT to race under the previous conditions justifies their stance does it not?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It does of course.....but who cares at FIA?Mosley is just looking to his pocket and to stay in charge for more time!!!The problem with FIA is that it's not a democratic association...Mosley will never step down..he'll have to be forced to do so..

[Taku 0]

let's get one thing straight mosley doesn't do it for the money, he's old money.

but it's clear he is addicted to his position of power. i do recall bernie saying that f1 needs to be run like a dictatorship. that may have worked in the past but times are changing and this is in no way true anymore.

evidence is that not even bernie could broker a deal to get the teams to run. which leads me to conclude that max went against bernie, or max and bernie are still working together and this is part of their grand plan. i can't believe for a second that bernie couldn't call up max and ask him to order charile to accept the compromise.

no, either max is biting the hand that feeds him, in which case he has to go, or bernie and max are still working together, which means they've both got to go as this whole situation was no doubt avoidable!

[Taku 0]

i'm convinced this is a conspiracy against the gpwc now. it's teh only thing that makes sense given what's available right now. this ceased to be a safety issue when the michelin teams came up with compromise offers. it then became a political game about who's the boss and who will do what they're told.

this game involved no more than 20 people, and millions suffered as a result of this game. this is supposed to be sport, not politics. i feel sick...

[Fed up 0]

i am seriously starting to believe some of the conspiracy theories that have been doing the rounds, such as attempting to devalue f1, and favour the incumbents that have signed on for 2008.  f1 is being used as a chessboard in a greater game for political power and the pawns, the fans, are getting knocked off. 

once the game reaches checkmate they shall restart the game in 2008 with new players, but the winners will then control the game. 

sad, very sad that it's reached this point.  am i being too pessimistic? 

i just can't comprehend why the fia is now going after the teams.  i realise they stoked the fire, but surely a letter from michelin telling them specifically NOT to race under the previous conditions justifies their stance does it not?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The problem with F1 now is that there are 7 teams led by McClaren/Williams & Renault that are posturing to wrestle control of F1 from the FIA. The teams are all backed by major car manufacturers who see the unequal income distribution in F1 as an area of major concern.

Historically, car manufacturer interest has been transitory, F1 has therefore been reluctant to take them seriously. The tide has now changed and unless the sport finds a way of satisfying their demands, F1 as we know it will implode.

It is naive to believe all the hype of the team of 7 that it is all the FIA's fault - as the saying goes, it takes two to tango and a lot of the problems are caused by the teams reluctance to reach timely agreements.

This is the end of F1 as we know it

[Taku 0]

The problem with F1 now is that there are 7 teams led by McClaren/Williams & Renault that are posturing to wrestle control of F1 from the FIA. The teams are all backed by major car manufacturers who see the unequal income distribution in F1 as an area of major concern.

Historically, car manufacturer interest has been transitory, F1 has therefore been reluctant to take them seriously. The tide has now changed and unless the sport finds a way of satisfying their demands, F1 as we know it will implode.

It is naive to believe all the hype of the team of 7 that it is all the FIA's fault - as the saying goes, it takes two to tango and a lot of the problems are caused by the teams reluctance to reach timely agreements.

This is the end of F1 as we know it

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

oh i agree that it isn't all the fia's fault, hence my comment earlier that the teams definitely stoked the fire. i can see the fia wanted to punish the 7 for even attempting to question the fia's authority with the compromise offers, and that is the purpose of june 29, but to do this at the total disregard for the fans at the track and around the world? senseless!

especially since it was based on a very real issue of safety. michelin have nothing to gain by creating a situation for the 7 teams to go against the fia. the 7 teams tried to gain a bit of political capital out of it, surely, but they were never willing to completely disregard the fans the way the fia has, just to make a political point!

[Fed up 0]

oh i agree that it isn't all the fia's fault, hence my comment earlier that the teams definitely stoked the fire.  i can see the fia wanted to punish the 7 for even attempting to question the fia's authority with the compromise offers, and that is the purpose of june 29, but to do this at the total disregard for the fans at the track and around the world?  senseless! 

especially since it was based on a very real issue of safety.  michelin have nothing to gain by creating a situation for the 7 teams to go against the fia.  the 7 teams tried to gain a bit of political capital out of it, surely, but they were never willing to completely disregard the fans the way the fia has, just to make a political point!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"Do you know how many teams from Michelin actually did the pre-USA tire test to select the correct tire for Indianapolis?

[Taku 0]

?

[SilverArrow-IceMan 0]

The real devalueing of the sport will happen if the michelin teams have points taken from them

[igillman 0]

I don't think anyone questions that Michelin are responsible for creating this situation (including Michelin themselves). There is no question that Bridgestone runners deserved to finish in the first 6 spots considering that Michelin teams could not run safely on the track as originally configured.

Michelin admitted that and was prepared, along with all the Michelin teams, to forfeit all championship points to the Bridgestone runners, which is exactly what ended up happening anyway.

In requesting that a chicane be added to the track, the Michelin camp were NOT trying to disadvantage the Bridgestone teams, as the FIA contends, since they had already agreed to hand over all championship points to the Bridgestone teams. All they were trying to do was ensure that the public saw something ressembling an F1 race instead of the crass joke the FIA allowed to occur. As a driver, I'm not sure I would be very happy about going racing for nothing except the crowd's pleasure, but that's another issue.

To contend that the Michelin teams could have just slowed down in turn 13 only has one redeeming quality and that would have been to see the Michelin teams fighting it out for positions 7 through 20. I just can't see Villeneuve, Montoya, Raikonnen, Alonso, Button, etc. go out onto the track knowing they have a ticking time bomb on the left rear side and to keep it under 200mph in turn 13 as they watch Karthekiyan blow by them!

So at the end, FIA and Ecclestone had an obligation to consider the impact to the fans and "make something happen" to get a race on. Michelin's proposal was reasonable. Instead, they let politics and power-hunger get the better of them. It's not only Michelin or their teams who will pay for this debacle, it is ALL F1 and it did not have to happen.

[AutoRacer5 0]

I shall state it AGAIN to Kacaj: Ferrari are Ferrari. Not FIA, not FOM, not FOA, not anybody else. Just Ferrari.

[Fed up 0]

I don't think anyone questions that Michelin are responsible for creating this situation (including Michelin themselves).  There is no question that Bridgestone runners deserved to finish in the first 6 spots considering that Michelin teams could not run safely on the track as originally configured.

Michelin admitted that and was prepared, along with all the Michelin teams, to forfeit all championship points to the Bridgestone runners, which is exactly what ended up happening anyway.

In requesting that a chicane be added to the track, the Michelin camp were NOT trying to disadvantage the Bridgestone teams, as the FIA contends, since they had already agreed to hand over all championship points to the Bridgestone teams.  All they were trying to do was ensure that the public saw something ressembling an F1 race instead of the crass joke the FIA allowed to occur.  As a driver, I'm not sure I would be very happy about going racing for nothing except the crowd's pleasure, but that's another issue.

To contend that the Michelin teams could have just slowed down in turn 13 only has one redeeming quality and that would have been to see the Michelin teams fighting it out for positions 7 through 20.  I just can't see Villeneuve, Montoya, Raikonnen, Alonso, Button, etc. go out onto the track knowing they have a ticking time bomb on the left rear side and to keep it under 200mph in turn 13 as they watch Karthekiyan blow by them!

So at the end, FIA and Ecclestone had an obligation to consider the impact to the fans and "make something happen" to get a race on.  Michelin's proposal was reasonable.  Instead, they let politics and power-hunger get the better of them.  It's not only Michelin or their teams who will pay for this debacle, it is ALL F1 and it did not have to happen.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is total rubbish.

Do you not realise that Indy is a "fast" circuit, so the inclusion of a chicane would have altered the fundamental characteristics of the track. I'm sure you did not expect the FIA to install the chicane on the morning of the race without prior testing. If the chicane was to be introduced, it should have been done before friday practice.

Why dont you read all the facts on this case. It will make sense

Honest

[raikkonen_rulez 0]

Who is FIA?

What is FIA?

Who the **** are they?

Who gives them the power to control millions' moods?

Who elected them?

I certainly did not

If this were the government they'd be gone by now

[raikkonen_rulez 0]

as for the Michelin seven

it's not their fault the tyres weren't safe enough

what should they have done, with the FIA rejected every proposal they came up with?

[nojvnof1 0]

The FIA is a joke. I can understand them calling Michelin in for bringing the sport into disrepute, but the Michelin teams??? What did the teams do wrong?? At the end of the day, they did not bring the dodgy batch of tyres, they listened to the advice of Michelin to pull out on the grounds of safety. If the FIA are serious about the safety issue as they proclaim to be (isn't nearly every new rule in because of safety grounds??) then they will not find the teams at fault. I hear that the teams may be up for big fines, something a team like Sauber does not need. If I were the boss of a Michelin team, and Peter Sauber especially, I'd seek Michelin to cover the costs of the fines, as at the end of the day, Michelin screwed up, not Williams-BMW, Renault, Toyota, McLaren-Mercedes, Sauber-Petronas, Red Bull Racing and BAR-Honda.