F1 Drops Ball by Dropping Green Flag

Very rarely do I follow Formula One racing. But I do make it known that I am an open-wheel racing fan, and so when something of note happens, I can't help but take notice. Let's put it this way-- something went afoul at Indy, and for once I can't blame Tony George (or can I?).

For those of you who don't follow F1, for those of you who don't care, and for those of you who didn't catch Sportscenter... here's what happened. The Formula One Grand Prix of the United States is run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway-- home of the Indianapolis 500. The race is run on a "road" course through the infield of IMS. The road course was built about 7 years ago, and uses Turn One of the 2 1/2-mile oval track as Turn 13 of the road course. It is the only banked turn that F1 drivers see all season.

During practice/qualifying on Saturday, a couple Michelin tires failed in Turn 13-- one failure causing driver Ralph Schumacher (Michael's brother) to miss the race due to injury. After the second tire failure, Michelin technical personnel declared their tires "unsafe" to run in Turn 13. The move by Michelin started a series of events and discussions about provisions for the race.

One suggestion was that a "chicane" (if you've driven through a West Omaha neighbourhood, you know what one is) before turn 13, to slow the cars. Allegedly, 9 of 10 teams agreed to the change in the course-- the only team holding out is perrenial favourite Ferrari (who have struggled this season, despite a budget larger than most third-world nations). Without Ferrari's permission, no change was made. And the seven teams using Michelin tires (Ferrari and two other teams use Bridgestone tires) withdrew their cars from the race, in unified protest, after the warmup lap on Sunday-- leaving just the six cars on Bridgestone tires to race. The result was a bigger mockery of a race than anything Tony George could have come up with (what-- you couldn't expect me to leave TG out of this).

What we are now left with are a bunch of alienated fans-- many of whom probably turned to F1 after Tony George destroyed North American open-wheel racing by creating the IRL because he didn't like CART, and their rules. Fans left after 10 laps, others booed, and in the end Michael Schumacher and Ferrari drove on to the checkered flag.

So where is the problem? The problem is the wreckless abandon for which F1 has just shown its drivers. This was not an issue of inadaquate equipment-- this was a safety issue. And when it comes to open-wheel racing (especially in CART and the IRL), safety ALWAYS comes first. Had Ferrari voiced a concern over safety, you had better believe that EVERYONE would have listened. Instead we are faced with racing doubletalk that sure Tony George was taking notes of-- quotes like "Apparently, none of the Michelin teams brought a backup to Indianapolis."

Wrong answer, guys. Michelin had a back up tire at Indianapolis. Teams are allowed two bring two different types of tires to the track. And all of them do-- a set of tires for dry conditions, and a set of tires for wet conditions. Is F1 or Bridgestone suggesting that the Michelin teams run on tires for wet conditions? That is not safe, as wet tires can not take the heat created by friction as well as dry-condition (or slick) tires. Running on wet tires would have created more problems, more malfunctions, and who knows what else.

What F1 should have done was postponed the race, or simply cancelled the event citing the unsafe conditions. This is not unprecidented-- back in 2001, CART cancelled a race at Texas Motor Speedway when drivers were complaining of blackouts caused by the high G-forces applied to their bodies in the corners. Yes, it was a very unpopular decision among fans-- but it was the right thing to do in the interest of safety. If you want to see death and destruction in a 32-car pile up (and not be in the damn thing)... go watch NASCAR.

There is no shame in admitting there is a problem. And it is not like F1 was racing on a "street"-circuit, where diverting traffic during the event weekend is a problem-- this was at Indianapolis, a track that hosts 3 events every year. They certainly could have rescheduled THIS race. Knowing the concern of the majority of teams, the best thing to do would have been to address the concern, not turn F1 (which until this year had simply been a bunch of parades run behind Michael Schumacher) into more of a farce than it is.

But maybe we can blame Tony George for this. Think about. Every F1 team has run at Indy before-- they are aware of the banked turn. But nobody is allowed to test at Indy for F1, and there has been a change at Indy in the past year. The track, run by Tony George, underwent a grinding process to the 2 1/2-mile oval track (which turn 13 is a part of). The process changes the driving surface does it not? It was a move made to creat more grip for Indy Car racing tires (which are provided by Firestone-- owned by the same company as Bridgestone). Bridgestone had the advantage of knowing the track condition and the effects on the tires from providing tires for the Indy Racing League, and could bring a tire compound acceptable to use on that surface. Michelin did not have that benefit, and probably came to the race with a compound similar to the one used for last year's race.

The long and the short of it is, the pooch got screwed here. F1 should not have allowed the race to go on. Or even sent teams over here to test tires after IMS changed the settings of the track. Now we have to listen to the soap opera of NAPCAR (yes, I said Nap) proportions. The whining, the bitching, the moaning-- all because f1 failed to put safety first. I applaud the Michelin teams for sticking to their guns, and coming together for the good fight.

Do we really need to lose another Ayrton Senna or Tony Renna before we address safety concerns?