Fia Press Release 29 June 2005

[Trog 0]

http://www.fia.com/mediacentre/Press_Relea.../290605-01.html

The FIA have released into the public domain the correspondence between Michelin and the FIA regarding tyre failures at Indy and before. In it, the FIA demand information regarding all Michelin tyre failures in F1 for the past two years, and details of Michelin's efforts to prevent these from recurring. The Implication is that Michelin have known about the problem in their tyre shoulders for some time, and that it's not simply an Indy problem.

The *really* sucky part of the 21 June letter is:

As soon as we receive this information, we will submit it to independent technical experts (in confidence, of course) for urgent evaluation.  Based on their report our technical department will decide whether or not to invite the stewards of the French Grand Prix to exercise their powers under article 127* of the International Sporting Code in respect of any car fitted with Michelin tyres.

*Dangerous Construction

The stewards of the meeting may exclude a vehicle whose construction is deemed to be dangerous (see Articles 141 and 145)

So.. a number of thoughts come to mind:

1) If the FIA is right, Michelin is in *deep* trouble. There's about a 5% chance of this actually being the case.

2) This could be a shot across the bows of the M7 before the meeting. I honestly don't see what point it serves in this context.. The FIA don't want 6 Car GPs.

3) Who the hell is qualified to read Michelin's info and offer unbiased conclusions? They'd have to be outside F1 for obvious reasons, but still understand the field.

4) The second failure at Indy occurred in turn 5; but that's probably a misleading indicator; The tyre was probably damaged by high-speed running in turn 13.

5) If this is an indicator of the mood for the meeting today, we're all screwed.

T

[Fed up 0]

I was trying to say that Michelin were playing a dangerous game in trying to pre-empt the FIA hearing.

I was obviously right to look behind the headlines

[cavallino 2]

Michelin are in deep deep s**t, this shows why they have been trying a desperate cover up in the last few weeks. they have continuously been making the rubbish claim that there was something different about the indy circuit this year.

any takers for a mid season switch to bridgestone?

[Jenson_Rules 0]

Well thgis is just getting worse and worse! F1 is supposed to be about exciting racung, hough giving the stewards at the french gp the option of not allowing certain cars to run, thats highly unfair! OBV they want more 6 car races, more chance to help the red b#####ds to win, though I hope now PS wont race even if jordan do!

[Sato 0]

It would be interesting to see the reactions of certain high ranking people within F1, if we see another 6 car race, or worse yet a 2 or 4 car race.

[Senna 0]

It would be interesting to see the reactions of certain high ranking people within F1, if we see another 6 car race, or worse yet a 2 or 4 car race.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don

[Jenson_Rules 0]

if there is a repeat of indy at Magny-Cours, that will be the result of the FIA!

[raikkonen_rulez 0]

I am extremely mad at the FIA to make such a statement. Who cares who's right or wrong, Michelin offered to refund tickets, whether with a motive or sincere apology IS AN ATTEMPT TO END THIS FARCE.

By what they are saying now, it is not enough and they want to punish further.

Sure it's by the rules, but why did they invent the rules in the first place? To ensure there's same level of competition + safety, to create entertainment. To follow around the rules like a fool, not bending to special situations, and destroying the purpose of the rules is stupid!! Law is dead, but the human mind isn't!!

Let them ban Michelin or whatever, then everyone boycotts F1 (they should if this happens), then they can have their political wars until they die if they want to. Inform me when the war has ended, I'll be back!

[mk360 0]

Worse still, early repoting on Grandprix.com is that BAR are looking at continued bans. It is written that an announcement can be expected from BAT and Honda that they will withdraw from the Championship......

Very bad news. Apparently, there are a lot of unhappy faces leaving the building, particularly Nick Fry.

This is on Grandprix.com.

So it looks like MAD MAX is intent on destroying F1 altogether. That man has a huge chip on his shoulder.

[Fed up 0]

The tail cannot be seen to wag the dog. The Michelin teams deserve whatever sanction is handed out to them.

No team/s is bigger than the sport

[raikkonen_rulez 0]

Without the teams there is no sport...

[cavallino 2]

Without the teams there is no sport...

Without michelin there is.

[rodders47 2]

well my humble opinion on all this CRAP is:-

Michelin made a MISTAKE - they admit to that

FIA have made many mistakes over the years - THEY don't admit to any !

The old saying comes to mind

People who live in GLASS HOUSES shouldn't throw stones !!!!

The FIA are like a company version of Michael Shumacher - never admitting to making a mistake - DREAM ON

[Ash 0]

well my humble opinion on all this CRAP is:-

Michelin made a MISTAKE  - they admit to that

FIA  have made many mistakes over the years - THEY don't admit to any !

The old saying comes to mind

People who live in GLASS HOUSES shouldn't throw stones !!!!

The FIA  are like a company version of Michael Shumacher -  never admitting to making a mistake  - DREAM ON

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Brilliant

[nojvnof1 0]

"No team/s is bigger than the sport"

correct, but no man is bigger than the sport either. F1 can live without Max, it cannot live without the teams. Oh, I agree with rodders47, well said!!

[stefmeister 0]

This isn't just about Indy. The FIA have apparently been suspicious about Michelin's tyre construction been unsafe for the past 2 years. The FIA now want an independant investigator to examine Michelin's data regarding there tyre failure's for the last 2 years.

It's no secret that last year Michelin advised its teams to underinflate there tyres as they would get more out of them underinflated. The problem there been that this made them a lot more prone to failure & a lot more likely to get a puncture from the smallest bit of debris. If you look at tyre failure's since 2002 you will see that 90% of them happened to Michelin tyres perhaps thanx to this construction which means teams have to underinflate them to get the most out of them.

If the construction of the tyres means they must be underinflated then the Michelin tyres are unsafe & therefore Illegal.

In another statement from Michelin On ITV-f1.com they are now attributing Aerodynamic bouncing due to the 2005 Aero regs to the Indy failure's. So thats about 6 Different explanations from Michelin in 2 weeks?

[cavallino 2]

In another statement from Michelin On ITV-f1.com they are now attributing Aerodynamic bouncing due to the 2005 Aero regs to the Indy failure's. So thats about 6 Different explanations from Michelin in 2 weeks?

my kind of person I keep pimping this but see here

http://www.totalf1.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3233

[Fed up 0]

This isn't just about Indy. The FIA have apparently been suspicious about Michelin's tyre construction been unsafe for the past 2 years. The FIA now want an independant investigator to examine Michelin's data regarding there tyre failure's for the last 2 years.

It's no secret that last year Michelin advised its teams to underinflate there tyres as they would get more out of them underinflated. The problem there been that this made them a lot more prone to failure & a lot more likely to get a puncture from the smallest bit of debris. If you look at tyre failure's since 2002 you will see that 90% of them happened to Michelin tyres perhaps thanx to this construction which means teams have to underinflate them to get the most out of them.

If the construction of the tyres means they must be underinflated then the Michelin tyres are unsafe & therefore Illegal.

In another statement from Michelin On ITV-f1.com they are now attributing Aerodynamic bouncing due to the 2005 Aero regs to the Indy failure's. So thats about 6 Different explanations from Michelin in 2 weeks?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I like you already

[monza gorilla 1]

So Michelin are taking Colin Chapman's philosophy one step further. It had to happen at some point. They f****d up royally and are admitting as much, even though much of it is in corporate speak.

Without the teams, who will fill the void? Dallara?

In another thread, Bajo39 was talking about the intransigence ie failure or refusal to compromise, of the teams. What about the intransigence of the FIA, or Max in particular, whose every statement seem to conflict with the preceding one?

Without Max, at least I can see candidates.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed that the Michelin teams were found guilty of something that they weren't actually charged with?

[nojvnof1 0]

I sure have, I just hope the teams have as well and notify their legal counsel/s, but it's not the first time the FIA have done this.